Forever, Always Changing
by Heartless.Forever
Summary: Bella Swan was a popular girl until a pre-summer incident leads her to start her senior year as an outcast. Forced to sit alone at the reject table with Edward Cullen, a guy with a serious reputation. REWRITE: TRUTH IN LOVE.
1. Chapter 1

**Okay, so some readers of my other story might let out a small sigh because this is not an update for it, but instead a new story. I'm not giving up on my other fanfic, I intend to have an update soon, I'm just suffering from serious writer's block. The stress of college is creeping up, which has made my brain completely lose it.**

**This story came to me and I wanted to get it out. Well it didn't necessarily come to me, I just happen to be a huge Sarah Dessen fan and wanted to incorporate that into this. Sarah can write teen romance like no other, at least in my opinion. If you haven't read her books, run to a book store and grab it all, she is fantastic.**

**This is definitely Twilight (obviously), but with a mix of the books 'The Truth about Forever,' and 'Just Listen,' by the amazing (there are no words to describe the love I have for her) Sarah Dessen. If you haven't read those, first of all you should, and second of all you should read this too :).**

**Description: All human. Bella Swan was a normal and somewhat popular girl until an incident led her to start her senior year as an outcast. She is forced to sit alone at the reject table with Edward Cullen, a kid with a reputation and no friends. What will she learn about him and about herself?**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight, or the characters. Also anything that has ****been created by Sarah Dessen.**

*** * ***

Google can do a lot for a person. Millions and millions of people spend time everyday searching the most random things, places, and people. Example one, I found that I have Coulrophobia, a fear of clowns, which is probably a really uninteresting fact, although it is a common fear, another fact I picked up. _Thank you, Google_. It doesn't matter the color of your skin, your sexuality, or your age—everybody Googles.

I am an avid Googler, which I'm pretty sure is not an actual word, but it would be pretty damn ironic of me to find out through the site. All this isn't relevant though, what I'm getting to is that I have spent a lot of time on the computer this past summer, and I mean a lot. Most teenagers spent their time lounging by the local pool, or getting wasted and passing out at the local Wal-Mart parking lot, at least I saw Tyler Crowley there doing _that_ the other night.

If you search the word Outcast, 7,280,000 things can be found. Definitions, clothing, and a hip hop duo are just some of the results. The definition was really all that I was looking for, but there are a few Outkast songs that I enjoyed. Anyways an outcast is somebody who is rejected by society or home, that 'somebody' meaning Bella Swan.

I was not always an outcast, I used to run with what could be called the in crowd. Then there was an incident at the end of junior year that led me to where I am today, by myself. In one night I had lost my best friend, the rest of my friends, and myself.

Now as summer is about to come to a close, I would have to start my senior year of high school as a complete nobody. At some point in the future I would have to face people, and especially one person, that I just did not want to. Life can be somewhat peaceful in the confined white four walls of my bedroom, but in the real world things are different.

On the outside I have created the perfect 'I'm alright' look, seeing as though I have had time on my hands to perfect it. It involved keeping my eyes straight ahead, my shoulders back, and walk with dignity—without tripping. Two of the three would at least be easy to achieve.

My parents have been convinced by the look, they don't know anything is wrong. Even after _that_ night, I was able to not become a sobbing mess and go on with my life. Renee and Charlie still even think I have friends, which is because I would drive around for hours every so often and then go home to tell them I was with Jess, Lauren, or anybody else that I could think of.

"So Bella," my mom said at dinner. "You all ready for your senior year?"

"Yeah." I said, trying to sound somewhat enthusiastic.

We weren't really a big talking family, at least me and my dad weren't. Charlie and I were simple people, if you have nothing good or bad to say just be quiet, which was our saying. The conversations were handled by my mom mostly, with a nod here and there from me, sometimes I would go crazy and throw out a—_gasp_, yes or no. Renee does not care though, she just keeps going on and on about anything or everything.

"I remember when you used to sit on the couch, coloring in your little Barney coloring book that you would keep in that little backpack you loved." She said, letting out a sad sigh. "It seems like just…yesterday."

"It was yesterday…" Charlie said with a smirk.

"Oh shush!" I said, sticking out my tongue.

"I am serious," he snorted. "When I came home from work you were sitting out there, paper and crayons in hand."

"First off, it was a colored pencil." I clarified. "Secondly, I was doing the crossword puzzle in the newspaper and couldn't find a pen." Which reminded me that I had to finish that later.

"Was Barney a word?" He joked.

"No, but retirement home was." I smiled.

"What? You aren't gonna take care of me when I'm old and senile?" He fake pouted. I always teased Charlie about sticking him in a retirement community when he picked on me. It worked though.

"Not a chance." I said with a laugh, it was moments like this that made my life seem back to normal, but they were just short moments that passed with time.

I have a good relationship with my parents, even if we don't talk about everything—or anything. After that night, telling anyone would be bad, but if my parents knew all hell would break loose. The rumors were bad enough to deal with, I didn't need them to enhance the humility. It just made everything easier to act like myself, or my old self.

*** * ***

Jessica Stanley was twenty feet away from my car. In my head I have pictured this moment a thousand times, happening a million different ways, all kinds of emotions flowing through my body, the truth was—I was not prepared at all.

I sat there in my red truck trying to map out my next move. There was nowhere to go, I didn't have any friends left. I sat there, looking out my window at Jessica and her little posse of friends, who were once my friends. Jess looked different, her hair was a little longer, and she was definitely wearing more make-up and less clothing then the last time I saw her.

"Here it goes…" I said to myself, while grabbing my bag and opening the door to my car. I stepped out and already had the feeling of being watched, and I knew exactly who it was. When I turned my head, my suspicions were correct, Jess was looking straight at me. _Maybe she is past everything, it's been a while, people change_. Then her eyes narrowed and she yelled, "Take a picture bitch." With that my year had officially begun…

My day was going by in a slow, quiet blur. No one spoke to me, just of me—in whispers. Everyone heard, it was obvious, I mean I couldn't expect a town like Forks to not gossip. If it weren't about me, I would find it pretty juicy stuff.

It was lunch, an hour of school that I was dreading almost as much as gym. It was kind of like that scene in Mean Girls where there were all those different cliques of people at tables and Lindsay Lohan walks in and then gets to sit with the cool girls. Okay, so it's nothing like that since no one wants me at their table and I won't even go into detail on how I and Lindsay Lohan are different.

I had two options. Option one: eat by myself in the girl's bathroom. Option two: sit at the reject table with Edward Cullen.

I let out a frustrated sigh. The bathroom is just embarrassing and unsanitary, but I did not want to sit with Edward. He was bad news, I don't prejudge people, but I did see him beat the shit out of Mike Newton last year and then just walk away like nothing had happened. He spent most of his time suspended, and I'm pretty sure he got arrested last year, those were the rumors at least.

_No one has ever sat at Edward Cullen's table, not even his own siblings_. This thought made me unbelievably nervous, but I found myself walking towards the table anyways. He was sitting there, playing with the ipod that he always seemed to have attached to him. I got to the table, hesitantly sitting in the seat farthest from him. He didn't move at all, looking as if he had no clue anyone had sat down with him.

All that stressing out and it wasn't even a big deal to him, or even me anymore. I got out the turkey sandwich that I made earlier, and took a bite. This gave me a chance to finally look around the cafeteria, I regretted that instantly—since everyone was looking over at me. Even the lunch ladies could not help but take a quick glance. Jess, Lauren, and all her little friends were pointing and laughing. If Edward had noticed this, it didn't seem to bother him at all. I just put on a brave face, deciding to just forget about all of this.

I had finished my lunch thinking that it would be time to leave, but when I looked at my watch there still was a good twenty minutes left. I spent the time occasionally lifting my head to catch quick glances at Edward from the corner of my eye, but he remained the same, only sometimes moving to change the song on his ipod. Right before the bell was going to ring, Jess and her little group of friends came walking near me, making my body tense up. "Look everybody…" Jess smirked at me. "Bella is making friends so fast. That's what you get for being such a whore." They all laughed and walked out of the cafeteria.

My face instantly turned red, and the sandwich I ate felt like cement in my stomach. When I looked up at Edward he was starring right back at me, which made me look away instantly. A minute later the bell rang, when I looked back up he was gone. Biology was next, which wasn't a horrible class, science has always been a good subject for me.

When I got to the room, it said 'find out who you're sitting with' on the board, and there was a list of people who were paired up on the wall. I went over and found my name, right next to it was Edward Cullen. Never in my life have I talked to him before, and now I am near him, twice today. He was sitting at the back lab bench, I walked over and took the empty seat.

I kept my eyes on the front of the room, not wanting to look into his eyes again. They were nice from what I had seen earlier, very green, and they weren't completely filled with hate towards me like other people in this school. I could tell he was listening to his ipod still by the way he was tapping his fingers in front of him like he was doing at lunch. I was wondering what he was listening to, my guess was hard metal or rap.

"Welcome class…" Mr. Banner said from the front of the room. "This year is going to be a good one, I can feel it."

Mr. Banner was one of those really enthusiastic people, he had the kind of optimism about life that I would kill to have—or kill myself if I had. He was my teacher last year as well, and I know first hand he can get old very quickly. This year was bound to be harder since this is the Advanced Biology class, which made me wonder how somebody like Edward Cullen could get into it.

"This year is a big one for all of you, graduation!" He said, causing some kids in the class to cheer like losers, although I was excited to get out of here. "It can be a tough and stressful year for kids, which is why I thought partners would be such a great idea to have. You will be working very closely with yours all year." Edward's fingers stopped tapping for a second, probably as unhappy as I was about having to work with him. After a second, the tapping started up again. "Today I will pass out a books, the new books I ordered though haven't come in yet so you are going to have to share just for today. Read the introduction of Biology, silently." Mr. Banner said, passing out a book to each of us.

When I got the book, I set it in-between us and turned it to the correct page. I started reading, which was uncomfortable because I had to tilt my head a certain way to be able to read it without getting too close to Edward. Once I finished reading the first two pages there was an awkwardness of not knowing when to turn it. It was hard to tell if he was even reading the book in the first place since he was still listening to his damn music.

After five minutes I figured he must be done, if not then I didn't even care anymore. I reached to turn the page, my hand bumping into Edward's, who was also going to do the same thing—we pulled away quickly. My face was probably a shade of red, my dad tells me that the wind could make me blush because it happens so often.

"Sorry…" he mumbled, and then turned the page for us.

I didn't say anything back, he had been going to school with me as long as I can remember and never once have I heard him speak. A part of me did not even know that it was capable. Luckily the introduction chapter was extremely short and neither of us would have to change the page again.

"Okay there is about ten minutes left of class, I'll let you sit and talk to your pals…quietly though." Mr. Banner said when everyone was done reading.

It was obvious that Edward and I would not begin a fantastic conversation about our summer vacation so I just sat there. I let out a small sigh, watching the clock slowly move second by second. I had a feeling Edward was looking at me, when I took a quick glance his way, I was right. _Why was he starring at me, did he think that I was easy or something at that he might have a chance?_

When the bell rang, I sprang out of my seat and made my way to gym. That class went by slowly, thank god it was the first day which meant I didn't have to change. The last bell finally rang, concluding the longest day of my life.

I got into my car, starting it up, it was probably the loudest car in the parking lot—but I loved it. I took one last look around the parking lot, spotting Edward who was talking to a tiny girl with short black hair. It was Alice Cullen, I didn't know her personally, but she has been around at parties that I would go to, usually with her boyfriend Jasper.

Edward was actually smiling at her, it was hard to believe that they were related. Alice was a popular junior and seemed like a nice person, definitely not like Edward. Then there was Emmett Cullen who was still a senior because he stayed back one year, he was really popular, but then again being star of the football team can do that for you. Neither of them were like their brother, which made me wonder how he got to be the way he was.

I was starring like a total creeper. The way he would smile at his little sister, it was a somewhat crooked smile. It was nice though, made his whole face a lot brighter. He had good features, his hair was one of them, it was kind of all over the place but it was a bronze color that no one else in school had. Edward was also good looking, _very_ good looking actually. If he didn't have such a bad reputation he might have been able to make friends here, but I'm the last person to be talking about reputations and friends.

He said goodbye to his sister who was walking over to Jasper, him and Edward did that nod thing that guys do. Opening the car door, he took one last look around the parking lot, and that's when our eyes met. His expression was unreadable, probably wondering if I was stalking him or something. After a second he looked away, got in his car and was gone.

I put my car in reverse and headed home, it took awhile because my heart was pounding for some reason. _What are the chances of a seventeen year old of having a heart attack?_ I wondered this the entire drive, my mom's car was in the driveway which meant I had to put on a happy expression.

"Bella…" My mom called when I reluctantly entered the house. "How was your day?" She said, appearing in the living room.

"It was great." _Lie one_.

"Did you talk to Jess and all your friends?" She said with a smile.

"Yeah, of course." _Lie two_.

"I'm glad, senior year is going to be the best. I remember just spending time with all of my best friends, going on road trips and just having the greatest time. You are going to have the time of your life." She said, giving me a hug, and then going back into the kitchen.

A part of me felt guilty for not telling her and my dad what had happened, but it just seemed easier for me to keep it in. I was not good with change, especially with the information I had, it could change everything. I guess I would just have to keep the lies coming, and everything would be fine. It won't be easy faking the best year of my life, but it was worth a shot.


	2. Chapter 2

**This is chapter two, I hope you like it. I will try to have a new chapter up of my other story sometime this week, maybe even try to finish it later tonight. I don't want to sound lame, but Happy Bday to me! woo.**

**Reviews are much appreciated :).**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight, etc.**

*** * ***

The first week went by in a blur, not fast in any way though, the weekend took forever to get here. The only good thing was that people stopped talking about me, not completely, but I was not the center of attention anymore. They were not talking about me, but they still definitely didn't talk directly to me either. I was avoided like the black plague or Charles Manson—although I'm pretty sure he even had some friends.

I continued to sit with Edward Cullen at lunch, no longer calling it the reject table for obvious reasons. There were some silent rules we had created, such as we don't talk to each other…ever. Okay, so that was pretty much the only rule, but I still followed it.

He never ate lunch, just sat there with his ipod out, not moving. I did my best to spend the hour not starring at him, I didn't wanting to go through that awkward 'sorry I'm a total creep' moment. There were times that I couldn't help the constant yelling in my head and I would glance at him from the corner of my eye.

Edward always left for Biology before me, which I guess could count as rule number two. Then I would sit next to him in class, never looking at him or saying a word. It was nice to have that consistency in my life, everything else could go wrong in my day—but I would always have my quiet lunch and Biology class with Edward Cullen.

Mr. Banner has not yet made us do any partner work in class and for that I was grateful. If I had to talk to Edward, I honestly would not know what to say or do. A part of me was scared that if he finally did speak it would be to tell me to stop starring at him like a freak all of the time.

There was kind of a sadness about the weekend ahead. Of course I definitely did not want to stay at school while people called me a slut behind my back or to my face depending on the person, but I would sort of miss Edward in a way. Not him exactly, just being able to sit with a person and not having them talk shit, at least I hope he didn't. For all I know he could think I am the most pathetic person out there.

*** * ***

It can be stressful trying to convince your parents that everything is alright and that you still have a decent social life. On Friday night I told them I was going to the movies with Jess, which led to my dad saying don't have too crazy a night. The only thing that was crazy was the fact I drove around for two hours thinking up an entertaining story about that nights escapades.

My mom likes hearing stories, especially ones with a lot of detail. I like to think that I have a good imagination and am pretty creative but I was running low on ideas. I even tried watching The Hills once to maybe get some insight on what friends do but there was just too much drama, and I'm pretty sure my IQ was beginning to suffer from all the blonde.

I spent the rest of my weekend reading, listening to music, and wondering what Edward was doing. I was not obsessed with the guy or anything weird like that. Since becoming a complete outcast and nobody, it made me wonder why other people were too.

I imagined he was out with his tattooed, ex-felon, druggie friends at some sketchy bar listening to some screaming metal band. That idea did not come from watching The Hills. He was probably getting completely trashed every night, but still always keeping his ipod attached to him. I pictured him happy around his type of people, giving everyone that incredible crooked smile.

"What are your plans for the week ahead?" My mom asked at dinner on Sunday night.

"I'm not sure yet…" I shrugged.

"No groovy parties?" My dad asked, I had to bite back a laugh.

"Not since the seventies."

"Get caught up with the language honey." My mom said, she should of just stopped there. "They say 'hip' and 'phat'."

I put my head in my hands, shaking in embarrassment.

"Fat?" I heard my dad say. "Now that is not nice."

"P-H-A-T." My mom corrected him. _Please let me be adopted?_

"Some high school drop out must of came up with that one." He said as I uncovered my face.

"Could you please change the subject?" I begged.

"Okay honey." My mom said, sticking her tongue out at my dad. "So…are you talking to any cute boys at school?"

"Wow." I sighed, "Can't we just discuss the weather like a normal family?"

"That means that there is a boy, who is he?" She said excitedly.

"There is no boy or a phat party in my life, okay. Just drop this." I said a little more angrily than I intended. It was silent for the rest of dinner, there was a lot of tension flowing through the air. When we were all done, I excused myself and went to my room.

After finishing the rest of my homework and taking a long hot shower, I laid in my bed. Tomorrow would be the start of another school week, it would end up being a long and annoying one. At least I could look forward to lunch with Edward Cullen.

*** * ***

School on Monday went by just like it normally did, the first classes leading up to lunch went by painfully slow. English was hell, Shakespeare on a Monday morning is almost if not equal to Chinese water torture, or so I would assume. Spanish class was humiliating, Mike Newton kept making jokes about me being a whore, which caused the whole class to laugh. The only person who didn't was Alice Cullen, she was giving me a sympathetic smile. It's weird, I have never talked to her before and she was being nice to me, very odd.

When the lunch bell rang, I walked over and sat at my usual table. I let out a sigh of relief, happy to get a chance to sit down in peace. Edward was sitting there with his earphones in and ipod out on the table. He looked slightly different than usual, his clothes were somewhat nicer and he shaved the scruff off his face. He looked—_hot_. I tried not to stare at him, keeping my eyes on the English essay that I had for homework.

I wasn't hungry, even if I did pack a big lunch. From the corner of my eye though I could see Edward looking at my food, unlike me he did seem hungry today. I've found it weird that he does not buy lunch ever, his dad is a doctor so you would think he must have some money to give him, and by the looks of Emmett he definitely looks like he eats…a lot.

I didn't like to waste food after watching some documentary on how much food gets wasted each year in the United States, it was a huge amount. I pushed my paper bag, filled with a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and some chocolate chip cookies towards him, it landed perfectly next to his hand.

Even though I had the courage to push the food at him, I still couldn't bring myself to look at his reaction, averting my eyes to my homework instead. From what I could hear he didn't move for a second probably creeped out, but then the bag opened and he was eating, I think.

I spent the rest of my lunch period trying to write an essay, which turned into me just writing random song lyrics down. My watch told me the bell was going to ring in a minute, and that Edward would be gone just like he always was before me, and when I looked up...he was.

Only two more classes left and I would finally be able to go home. I have wanted to take a nice nap ever since I got up this morning. I let out a small yawn, making my way to Biology class, hopefully we weren't doing anything that involved thought. I sat in my seat, Edward was there with his ipod. _I wonder what would happen if he lost that thing, maybe shoot up the school?_

"Good afternoon class!" Mr. Banner said in a too loud, cheerful voice. "Today you and your partner will be working on the Mitosis lab together. All the equipment you will need is on your lab bench, identify the phases that are on the slides. Now have fun and get to work."

Great, now I would be doing all the work myself, he would probably slack off. There were five slides in front of us, I grabbed one and put it on the microscope. I adjusted the focus, "Prophase." I said, looking at Edward for the first time. He had taken the earphones out and was looking at me.

"Can I take a look?" He said, grabbing the microscope before I could even answer him. "Yeah, it's Prophase." _Well isn't he a friggin Einstein_.

"I know, I just said that…" I mumbled under my breath.

He let out a small laugh, grabbing the next slide, and looking into the microscope. "Anaphase."

"Can I take a look?" I smirked, taking it and looking—damn, he was right. I just nodded, not wanting him to say anything along the lines of 'I told you so'.

"No need to admit it, I know I'm right." He smiled. I was pretty sure my breathing stopped for a second and my heart pounded against my chest. Seeing that crooked smile from a far is nothing like it is up close. Was he being nice to me? This was not how I imagined the badass Edward Cullen to be like.

"You just had a lucky guess." I said while putting the next slide on. I took a quick glance at it. "Interphase, do you want to check or are you going to just go along with me?"

"I'll believe you…this time." He nodded, putting the next slide on the microscope and looked. "Metaphase, which means the last slide is Telophase, so it would be pointless to even look."

"What if Mr. Banner did two of the same phase to throw us off?" I said sarcastically.

"Ah…" He smirked "You're one of those outside of the box thinkers aren't you?"

"Not at all, I'm very much in a box." I did that stupid thing mimes do when they are 'stuck' in a box or whatever they do. It made him laugh though, with me...not at me—I think.

"Wow, now I understand why you have to sit alone at lunch everyday." He joked

I fake glared, "I wouldn't be talking if I were you, I don't see people fighting to be in a seat next you in the cafeteria."

"Touché." He nodded.

We sat there for the last few minutes in silence, not that weird silence where you are mentally counting down the seconds until you can leave, it was comfortable. I wanted to sit there forever, for the first time in months I felt relaxed. I mentally sighed when the bell rang and we exchanged one last look, and then I left for gym.

Last period of the day I spent replaying what had just happened, I had created my own theory of what he would be like. I always pictured a really arrogant, mean, unintelligent asshole. I guess this is what they mean when they say don't judge a book by its cover.

At the end of the day I shut my locker and started to walk off towards the parking lot. I walked right into someone, I was about to apologize but then saw who it was—James. My entire body felt like rubber, a part of me wanted to break down and cry while the other part wanted to hit him as hard as I could.

"Hey Bella…" He said with a smile. James was that all American guy who could get any girl he wanted. He graduated last year, which made me wonder why he was here at all. Probably to pick Jessica up, she was still dating him.

"Hi." I said quietly, hoping that would be it.

"How was your summer, do anything good, didn't see you at any of the parties that were going on. Just that one." He said, winking at me.

It was becoming increasingly harder and harder not to throw up my lunch. "No, I don't go out that often anymore."

"Doing a little R and R before college starts, good plan..." He nodded. "A year of sobriety before freshmen year begins where you will probably be wasted the whole time, I know I am."

"Yeah..." I nodded slowly. "I got to go though."

"See you around." He gave me a smirk and that was my queue to get the hell out of the building before I fell to my knees. I started walking down the hallway, stopping slightly when I heard someone yelling behind me. _Oh shit_.

"What the fuck Bella…" Jess called. "Why do you keep talking to my boyfriend?"

I attempted to avoid her, I was never a big fan of confrontation. She came behind me pushing my right shoulder slightly, making me stumble a bit. I turned around and faced her.

"You are such a slut, I saw you talking to James." She yelled, causing the people in the halls to look over at us. "What part of don't talk to my boyfriend ever again did you not understand?"

"I-I'm sorry." It was all I could manage to get out.

"I-I don't care." She said, mimicking me. "You are already the school tramp, why are you making it worse for yourself?"

I started walking away, then feeling two arms grab and push me into the nearby lockers. I hit the back of my head, hard. Jess got close to my face, "Stay away from him or I will make it so you will never want to step foot in this school again. Got it skank?" I nodded slowly, then she walked off and the kids in the halls started whispering and laughing.

My face turned red and the throbbing in my head was not helping the situation, so I turned and ran to my truck. When I got in I just sat there, holding the back of my head, trying to hold back tears. There was a loud knock at my window, _please not again Jessica_. But when I looked up it was not Jess there, it was Edward Cullen.


	3. Chapter 3

**Thanks for all the reviews, keep them coming, I like to know what you think. I'm glad you like the story, I'm having fun writing it. My goal is to have another chapter of 'Double Take' up by Wednesday, cross your fingers, I just don't know where to take the story. Fucking writer's block. I'll also have another chapter of this up soon, maybe tomorrow if I'm in a writing mood.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight, blah blah blah.**

*** * ***

He looked unsure with himself, I was almost positive that if I didn't see him he probably would have run away and fast. After I found the ability to close my jaw from the surprise of him being there, I rolled down my car window. "Hey, um, what are you doing…here?" _Wow, I'm cool_.

"I saw what happened and wanted to see if you were okay." He said while running a hand through his hair.

I sighed loudly putting my face in my hands, "you saw that?"

"Jessica Stanley is the biggest whore in school, she starts drama with everyone about anything." I lifted my head up to look at him. "It's no big deal."

"It is to me, I mean the entire school already talks shit about me…now they can add this to the list of things to laugh at me for."

"You're wrong." He said with a nod.

"What are you talking about?" I said, raising an eyebrow. "I know that I'm all people talk about around here, some of them tell me to my face."

"I was saying you're wrong about the entire school talking shit about you. For one, I don't." This made me smile on the inside.

"That doesn't really help, you rarely talk anyways."

He let out a small laugh, "Point made." He nodded.

"But thank you for not adding to the rumor mill." I smiled.

"That's not my style." He smiled back. "Are you okay though, you hit your head pretty fucking hard in there?" He said while looking back at the school.

"I'm fine, just a tiny bump." I said, running a hand over where I had hit it, regretting that immediately because a sharp pain went through me, making me flinch.

He sighed, "You are a really bad liar." This almost made me laugh out loud, seeing as though all I ever do is lie and keep secrets.

"I am really okay, I promise, scout's honor." I said doing that little hand gesture thing I learned back during girl scouts.

"Okay…" he said hesitantly. "But you really shouldn't drive."

"Under what authority?" I smirked.

"As a kind citizen of the Forks community, I must insist that you stay off the roads. To not just insure your personal safety and well being, but the good people of Forks' as well." He said in an official sounding tone.

I laughed, which made my head throb even more than it was before. "You're going to make me walk home, do you know how far that is? Plus not to mention it's freezing out today."

"What kind of person do you think I am? Of course I won't make you walk home." He said trying to sound offended. "I have a skateboard in my trunk that you can borrow."

I rolled my eyes, starting my car, and then he opened my car door. "It's kind of difficult to drive with you standing there." I said.

"I'm driving you home."

"Says who?" I smirked.

"Says me, and I'm taller which means, uh, I win."

I let out a laugh, "I am a very stubborn person."

"So is Emmett, who is twice my size, but he doesn't scare me and neither do you." He fake glared. I pictured the giant Emmett Cullen pouting in a ball on the floor while Edward stood over him with a stern look on his face.

"Fine." I sighed, "What about my car, I can't leave it here?" When I get home, I would have to explain to my parents why I left it at school. That could ruin everything that I worked to hide all summer, I wouldn't take that chance.

"Alice, my sister, can bring it to your house." He nodded. "She'll just follow behind us, and then I can take her home." He said texting somebody really quick, my guess Alice.

I didn't even know Edward, in the back of my mind I was wondering if it was safe getting into a car with a strange boy, too many after school specials and lectures from my parents. "How do I know you aren't going to drive me out to some empty field and kill me?" I said, half jokingly.

He started laughing. "Well it's Monday. I usually commit murders on the weekend, that way I have more time to get the job done."

"Good to know." I let out a laugh, grabbing my bag off the seat, and stepping out of the car. I stepped on the ground, stumbling a bit, and then felt two strong hands on my upper arms keeping me steady. "Thanks." I mumbled, blushing a little from the embarrassment of the situation.

"Wow, I've heard you are clumsy." He said, smiling down at me.

"I thought you didn't believe the whole rumor scene." I said, blushing even more when I saw his arms were still touching me. I wasn't sure that I wanted him to let go at all. He noticed me looking at his hands and removed them from my arms, I was mentally sighing.

"Obviously…it isn't a rumor." He let out a laugh, then he looked behind me at something, I turned to see that it was Alice coming towards us.

I noticed she was shorter than me, which is rare, since I am pretty far from being Shaquille O'Neil. She was also strikingly beautiful, way prettier than I could ever be, but then again the entire Cullen family was gorgeous. I remember meeting the handsome Dr. Cullen before from my multiple trips to the hospital, the receptionists even know my name there. _I am a klutz_.

"Hey Edward." She said when she was close to us, and then she looked over at me. "Hey Bella, I'm Alice, it's nice to meet you." She smiled wide.

"It's nice to meet you too." I smiled back. "We have Spanish together, right?"

"Yeah." She said with a nod. "I'm sorry about Mike Newton, he was being a total jerk to you today."

I looked over at Edward, who seemed pretty interested in what Mike Newton did, I don't think he likes him—judging by the fact he beat the snot out of him last year. I let out a sigh looking back at Alice, "I'm used to it."

"I don't believe any of it...the rumors." She said, now there were two people who didn't believe the hype. Two down a couple hundred to go.

"Thank you." I smiled genuinely at her.

"Sorry to interrupt the girl bonding…" Edward said with a laugh, "But Bella should get home, I'm going to guess her head hurts from the whole locker incident."

"I saw that, you have way too much will power, I would of kicked her ass into the ground." Alice said with a smirk.

"Okay little girl." Edward said, rolling his eyes, which made her hit him in the gut. "Lame." He smirked, but I did catch him out of the corner of my eye rubbing his stomach a little.

I laughed, then handed her my keys, "Are you sure you want to drive it? I can always leave it here and have my dad bring me to get it later."

"No, I want to…I've never driven a truck this big before!" She said enthusiastically.

"I wouldn't go over forty miles an hour." I said, nodding my head at the car. "Not because I don't want you too, but because it doesn't go that fast."

"I won't, promise." She laughed, then got into my car and started it up. From the outside the car was surprisingly way louder than from the inside, now I know why people stare at me when I come into the lot in the morning.

"You ready?" Edward said, and I nodded. We walked to his car, he held the door for me while I got in. Edward Cullen holding a door for somebody, let alone me, this day is so strange. I buckled my seatbelt, admiring how nice his car was, he had a thousand cds in the back seat. When he got in, he gave me a look like he too was wondering how I got to be here in his car. He started it up, putting the car into reverse, and leaving the parking lot. We were silent for a minute.

"Do you know where I live?" I asked.

"Yeah." He nodded, but then realized how weird it was. "Uh, not that I am a stalker or anything like that. It's just that everyone knows where everyone lives in this town, especially the chief of the police's house."

I rolled my eyes, people never used to come to my house in fear of my dad. "Not necessarily true, I don't know where you live."

"Do you want to know where I live?" He said with a wink, which made me turn bright red, and then he laughed. "You blush so fucking easily, it's hilarious."

"Well I'm glad I amuse you." I rolled my eyes, "Just drop me off at the circus and I'll entertain the masses. I can blush and learn how to juggle."

He laughed, "Juggling? I'm going to go out on a limb and say that your hand eye coordination is lacking a bit."

"You would be right." I laughed, "My gym class can tell you that."

"So then I won't be asking you to be on my baseball team in the future." He smirked.

"No, unless…you want to lose." I nodded.

"You can be the water girl." He smiled.

I looked at him, and had to ask. "Why are you being so nice to me?"

"Do you not want me to? I can throw rocks at you when you're walking around school if that will make you feel better." He raised an eyebrow, smiling slightly.

"No…" I laughed, "But I'm basically an outcast in the school now, I lost all of my friends and any ounce of dignity I had. So I don't understand why you are doing this." I said, gesturing to me in the car.

He smiled slightly, looking over at me for a second, then back to the road ahead. "Because you make a fucking good peanut butter and jelly sandwich."

I laughed, "Thank you, I'm so glad that it's because of my great personality."

"What personality?" He joked.

I hit his arm lightly, keeping my hand there a second longer than I should of. "I might have to start eating lunch somewhere else."

"I hear there's a great broom closet near the teachers' lounge that's available, have fun in there." He smirked.

"I will." I said, folding my arms over my chest.

"You are stubborn." He said shaking his head.

"It wasn't a lie."

"You don't lie?" He said, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, I mean I have lied before, but everybody lies." Teenagers are sixty times more likely to tell a lie than any other age range, or so Google says.

"I don't."

"No way." I said, shaking my head.

"I am serious. I had to take a few anger management classes after I got into a little fight at a bar one night, but we won't talk about that, and I haven't told a lie since."

"You never say something to spare somebody's feelings?" This was hard to believe, I did want to know about his little fight though.

"I can't hold stuff in, it doesn't work for me." He sighed, "It just builds until I fucking explode and end up punching someone like Newton."

"Yeah, but he deserves it."

He laughed, while pulling onto my street, I could see Alice in my car behind me. "I don't fight anymore."

"I'm not good with confrontation either."

"I've noticed." He nodded, pulling his car in front of my house, while Alice pulled into my driveway. I looked at him, "Thanks for the ride."

"No problem." He smiled slightly, "I'll have to go back to ignoring you tomorrow though." He joked.

I unbuckled my seatbelt, and opened the door. "Good, I don't need you ruining my spotless reputation anyways." I smirked, getting out of the car.

Edward laughed, "See you tomorrow."

"If you're lucky." I smiled, turning around to see Alice there holding my keys. She dropped them in my hands, "Thanks for driving it here for me."

"No problem, and by the way…totally got it up to forty-three miles an hour." She smiled, getting into the car, and then looking at me. "We should hang out sometime, if you want."

I smiled, "Yeah that would be great."

"Good, because I left my cell number in your truck already." We both laughed, "Bye Bella."

I waved at both of them, and walked into my house. "Bella is that you?" I could hear my mom yell from the kitchen so I walked in there, she was covered in flour, trying to cook something.

"No, it's George Clooney."

She laughed, "Well Mr. Clooney, could you get me the butter out of the fridge?"

I grabbed it, setting it down onto the counter for her. "That isn't how you are supposed to treat the best looking man in the world."

"It is when I'm trying to get dinner done." She looked at me and smiled, "You are in a good mood."

"Yeah, I am." I smiled, "Good day I guess."

*** * ***

I went to bed that night feeling really good, way different than I did on the first day of school. For the first time in months, I was happy. I didn't know it was even possible to feel this way anymore after everything that had happened.

It could definitely be the fact that I was finally talking to people my age. I wouldn't necessarily say I had a friend or friends, but there could be potential there. Four months ago if someone said that I would be in a car having a good conversation with Edward Cullen, I would have fell over laughing. Now, I'm really glad it happened.

The next morning, I was feeling a lot better about going to school. I put on a pair of dark jeans, a tight violet v-neck t-shirt, and my black converse. I decided to get out of my ponytail rut, I kept my hair down and curled it. I even put on a little make-up for the first time this year. When I looked in the mirror I saw the old me, the more confident, fun me. When Jessica and the other people at school see me, I hope this shows them that what they say isn't affecting me, even if some of it does.

I drove to school, getting my car up to forty-three, Alice was right. When I parked my car I could see Jess and her little cronies were standing around looking in my direction. I got out of my car, my held high, and putting on an 'I don't care, but kiss my ass' look on my face. I gave a pissed looking Jess a smile and headed into school.

Today is going to be good, I can feel it.


	4. Chapter 4

**Here is chapter three to the story, sorry it has taken longer than I planned. I was going to update Tuesday, when that didn't happen I was definitely going to do it Wednesday…damn American Idol, bad guilty pleasure. The chapter is kind of short, sorry. I will update 'Double Take' very soon, I'll probably start writing after I post this. promise to have it up fast. :).**

**Thank you for all of the reviews, I really appreciate them. Keep them coming, I want to hear your thoughts and opinions. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight, it is all Stephanie Meyers doing.**

*** * ***

I walked into my first class of the day, which was also my favorite, I've always really enjoyed English. I could still picture the surprised look on Jessica's face when she looked at me walking in this morning. I smiled to myself. She probably thought yesterday that I was defeated, that she had won, but she didn't. I was not going to feel like that anymore, it isn't who I want to be.

I wanted to be rid of what happened on the first night of summer, the weight of that night was hard to carry. I have always been a confident person, somebody who knew what they wanted from life and never took shit from other people. It's like I played hide and seek with my soul that one night, and never found it.

Yesterday when I talked to Edward and Alice Cullen, and they did not judge me or call me a slut, it gave me hope. I might be able to get back some of the person I was before everything changed.

Today was turning out okay, so far. Mike Newton said that I looked like a pretty whore today, not just my usual plain old whore. The sad part is that it was probably the nicest thing anyone has said to me in a long while. After he said that I looked over at Alice who gave me a kindhearted smile, I would definitely love to have Alice as a friend, she seems like a genuinely nice person who didn't believe all the bull.

I was relieved but also slightly nervous when the lunch bell rang. It meant an hour of doing nothing, plus I was sort of hungry. I was worried though that things with Edward would be awkward. When I looked at him he was sitting in his usual seat, with his slouched posture over his ipod, nothing was different.

I sat in the seat farthest from him, just like any other day, and started going through my lunch. I packed a turkey sandwich, pretzels, and peanut butter cookies. I grabbed a pretzel and popped it into my mouth, keeping my eyes on the table.

"I thought you would be eating in the broom closet with all your friends today?" Edward said in a joking tone.

I looked up in surprise, he was smirking at me. I thought he wouldn't speak to me again, maybe during a lab in Biology, but not at lunch. He rarely spoke, not even to his own brother and sister, why was I different.

"I was, but my buddy Joe the janitor had important business duty to take care of, but we are totally going to reschedule." I said, adding a nod.

"Probably heard some rumors and didn't want you bringing down his rep." This made me laugh, even if it was a joke at my expense.

"God forbid the Lysol wipes think any differently of him." I said, rolling my eyes for dramatic effect.

He laughed, it was a nice laugh, very soothing just like his speaking voice. "I can already picture the brooms ditching him for Betty the lunch lady."

"The sad part is she most likely has more friends than me." I wrinkled my nose at the thought.

"That's not true." He said shaking his head.

"Well let me count out my friends…" I made a big effort in pretending to think, "Um, well, there's no one."

"I don't believe you." He said shaking his head.

"You don't have to believe it, but it's true." I let out a sigh, "I lost all my friends over the summer."

"Because of the stories?" He said quietly, and I just nodded. I wish that Edward didn't know the rumors, who knows what kind of details he was given, but he did hear—along with everyone else. "The way I look at it is…if they were real friends they wouldn't let gossip get in the way."

"Then I guess that means I have never had a real friend before, since they all left me."

"Its high school." He said, like that was the great explanation to all of my life problems. Why do people even bother with therapy? It all adds up to the point that 'it's high school'.

I rolled my eyes, "Thank you very much Edward Cullen, all this time that I was depressed and alone, that was the whole reason…high school."

He shook his head, smiling. "No, I'm saying that these people in this room and this town will mean nothing to you in about five years from now. They aren't worth it, at all."

"Now I see why you have no friends." I blurted out, but then felt bad once it slipped. "Sorry, that was so rude of me, I didn't mean it."

"It's alright." He let out a small laugh, "I do have friends though."

I looked around the table at the empty seats. "They seem nice, a little on the quiet side, but then again so were you up until yesterday."

He smiled, trying to hold back a laugh. "Imaginary friends, you think my social life has come to that?"

"What social life?" I smirked.

"Wow." He said grabbing his chest, "You know how to hurt a guy."

"I try." I smiled, "Don't feel bad though, imaginary friends are probably the only kind I could get."

"You are too negative Bella." He said, I was kind of wrapped up in the way that he said my name, it sounded good coming from him.

"Its high school, who isn't negative?" I said with a shrug.

"True." He nodded, "But you shouldn't wallow over the past."

"I am not wallowing!" I said, glaring at him when he gave me a look that said he didn't believe me. "This…" I said gesturing at me, "is not wallowing. Wallowing includes ice cream, and crying, and Van Morrison songs."

"You like Van Morrison?" He asked, it wasn't what I thought would come out of his mouth next. He seemed surprised, probably expected me to listen to Justin Timberlake or some other pop garbage singer. I remember when Jessica looked through my ipod the first time, she had a look of complete disgust on her face then asked where the Backstreet Boys were.

"Yeah, he's incredible…most definitely one of my favorites." I said, nodding.

He was about to say something but the bell rang, startling us both. I guess lunch goes by faster when you actually talk to another human being. I started cleaning up my things, realizing that I didn't eat any of my lunh. When I looked up he was walking away with his earphones in like he did every other day, it was like we never even spoke to one another.

I threw my trash away and ran into the bathroom to check my hair quick, with my luck I probably had a piece sticking out the entire time that I was talking to Edward. I looked in the mirror, running my hand through my hair, it actually looked pretty decent.

I took one last look as the door opened, in came Lauren. Lauren was a girl who absolutely despised me, even more than Jessica, and she scared me more too. My theory of why she never liked me is because she was jealous of the friendship that me and Jess had, she was treated like the third wheel. The night of the party was most likely the best thing to ever happen to her, I was out and she was in.

"Hey Bella." She said with a smile, I'm pretty sure I could see her fangs peaking out over her lip.

"Um, hey." I attempted to smile back.

"You look good today, still not at all attractive, but there are some dogs out there that would be mighty jealous." She smiled again, standing in the mirror next to mine. "Your little boyfriend Eddie seems to like your appearance, god knows why." She let out a laugh.

"He isn't my boyfriend." I said, picking up my purse.

"Not even that loser would want to touch your ugly, dirty body. Such a slut, I always told Jess you were pathetic, she had to find out the hard way."

I thought that I would start crying, I held it in. I began to walk out but she put her leg out in front of me and I hit the ground, hard. There was a sharp pain in my left arm, but I didn't want to give her the satisfaction so I hid all emotion.

"Oops, sorry Bella." She said walking out, before she left she turned and smiled. "Have a nice life loser."

I laid there for a second, and then looked at my watch, I would definitely be late. I got up, which was hard with one arm, I was pretty sure my left wrist was sprained. I grabbed my stuff and jogged to Biology, getting there a minute after the bell rang.

Luckily there was some kind of teacher meeting, which meant Mr. Banner wasn't there. All the sub did was give me a disappointed look and then went back to reading the newspaper. I walked over to the desk feeling my classmates' eyes on me, I hated attention, even if I had been getting a lot of it this year.

I wanted to start crying right there, a part of it was from the throbbing pain in my arm and another part was from Lauren's words. I knew she was just trying to mess with me, but it struck a nerve.

I held my arm close to my body, rubbing my wrist with my good hand. It was beginning to bruise and swell up, which meant another trip to the doctors after school. It was about time, it's been a whole three months since my last time there, when I hit my head—I won't go into detail, I will say an ice cube was involved.

"You alright?" Edward said, startling me a bit. I glanced at him, he was looking from my face to my arm, and then back to my face with concern.

"Um, yeah." I said, covering my arm a little more. "Just tripped."

He stuck out his hand, holding it out to me. _What is he doing? _He then motioned for my hurt arm, "Let me see."

"I said I'm fine, really, it's okay." I said, trying to reassure him.

"If its fine then there should be no problem in me looking at it." He said, gesturing his fingers for me to give in.

"Not going to happen." I said, shaking my head.

"I get that you're stubborn, but so am I and I will follow you around until you put your arm into my hand." I went to open my mouth again but he stopped me, "please Bella."

I let out a small sigh and showed him my wrist, he lightly took it, rubbing his thumb along the bruised area. For a few seconds I forgot that there was ever pain, I didn't feel it anymore. His touch made me feel warm all over, I am also pretty sure that there was a spark.

"What is your definition of 'fine'?" He asked with a small laugh.

"I know that it's sprained, it wouldn't be the first time, but it's better than broken." I smiled, "Don't worry the hospital is calling my name after school."

"You are very hard to read." I was well aware that he was still holding on to my arm, it reminded me of yesterday when I fell out of my truck and he kept me steady. He released my hand when he noticed me watching him. _Maybe if I injured myself on a daily basis he would keep touching me..._

"Yeah okay, I am a Dr. Seuss book compared to the Latin dictionary that is your mind."

He let out a laugh, "Latin? I'm barely getting by in Spanish."

"That wasn't the point." I rolled my eyes, smiling.

"I got that..." He nodded, "I just like to keep to myself, I don't know."

"Which begs the point, why all of a sudden are you all nice and talkative to just me?" I questioned.

"I actually have no clue." He said, shaking his head.

"It's because I looked so cool and approachable that you just had to speak to me right?" I joked.

He raised his hands up. "You caught me."

"Well if it helps, I have no clue why I am talking to you either."

We smiled at each other just as the bell rang, I did not want this to end, but I of course had class. I started grabbing my book, a sharp pain went through my arm. I had completely forgotten about the fall from earlier.

"I'll get those for you." He said picking up my books for me.

"You don't have-"

"I want to." He nodded. "Lets skip last period."

"Together?" I asked.

"No…separately." He laughed, "Yes together, I can take you to get your arm checked, plus it's hard to play basketball in gym with one good arm."

"It's actually harder to play basketball with no hand eye coordination and two left feet, but the arm doesn't help the situation either." I laughed.

"So is that a yes to leaving?" He raised an eyebrow.

I have never skipped class before, I was always the good girl. I've only faked sick once in seventh grade to get out of going to school and I felt completely guilty afterwards. My parents would kill me when they found out, although I can use the whole hurt arm thing in my defense. _I can't do this_….

"Yes."


	5. Chapter 5

**Sorry this chapter took so long to get up, I've had a lot of it written on my computer for awhile but the week was busy for me. I hope you guys like it, for those of you who haven't read The Truth About Forever the game 'Truth' is a big part in it, so here Bella and Edward start to play it. I have a short week of school this week, so I am hoping to have another update on here by Thursday or Friday.**

**Thank you for the reviews, keep them coming, negative or positive, they make me happy that people are actually reading my story.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight, the characters, or anything written by Stephanie Meyer or Sarah Dessen.**

*** * ***

Three weeks ago I had been dreading the start of my senior year, worried that I would be spending it isolating myself from everybody around me. So sitting here in Edward Cullen's silver Volvo and skipping my last period class was not at all a scenario that I could have ever planned for, but here I was.

"You seem nervous." He said with a small laugh, "This is your first time skipping isn't it?"

"When your dad is the chief of police you don't really have a giant urge to leave school." I nodded, watching the road pass by me.

"Would he arrest you?" He joked.

"That would most likely be the best thing to happen." I laughed, "I imagine a much harsher punishment."

"You will be fine." He said giving me a reassuring crooked smile. It surprises me that I've never seen him with a girl before, he was attractive—really attractive.

"You think so?"

"I used to skip almost everyday, you are with a pro." He said while running a hand through his hair. "Not that I'm proud of that title or anything."

"Good to know." I nodded. "I think my parents would just be happy with the fact I'm doing something that normal teenagers do."

"What is classified under normal?"

"Um, well skipping school, shopping on a daily basis, maybe going to actual sleepovers…I don't know." I let out a sigh, running a hand through my own hair, damn Edwards got me doing it now.

He laughed. "Sleepovers and shopping? Those must be normal girl things."

I laughed, "You know you love getting together for a night with your best guy friends to watch Legally Blonde and play Truth."

"Never in my life would I watch Legally Blonde." He snorted. "And I don't even know what Truth is."

My mouth dropped open in surprise. "How could you not know what Truth is?"

"Well I have this thing…"

"What thing?" I asked curious.

"A penis." He let out a laugh and looked over at me, even at seventeen years old I still found myself blushing at the word, this caused him to laugh a lot louder.

"Penis or not, Truth is the best and most brutal game out there, it is a top essential to a slumber party." I remember playing it at Jessica's house in the ninth grade for her annual sleepover, at least three girls were in tears before the game was finished.

"Lets play it." He said, turning down a street.

"No way." I said, shaking my head.

"Why not?"

"It always ends badly, always."

"You build it up and then refuse to play, that is no fun." He looked over at me with a smirk. "Come on, or are you too chicken?"

"I believe them's fighting words Mr. Cullen." I fake glared at him.

He smiled, "Explain this game to me, is it like Truth or Dare with out the Dare?"

"Yeah, kind of…" I nodded, "Say if I asked you a question, you would either answer it or refuse it. If you answer truthfully, then you get to ask me any question that you want. If you refuse the question, then you ask me a question, if I answer it… I win."

"It doesn't sound that bad."

"It is though!" I nodded. "People ask very intense and private questions, answering can be completely humiliating. Plus the game could go on forever."

"I can handle it." He said, "You start."

"Okay, but I warned you." I said looking at him. "What is your favorite color?"

"Don't baby me." He said, letting out a sigh.

"That is a legitimate question."

"It was an easy question, not intense or private as you put it, do not hold back."

"Fine, fine." I rolled my eyes. "Why did you fight Mike Newton last year?"

He ran a hand through his hair, which I now knew meant that he was nervous, bored, or trying to buy time. "He pissed me off so I punched him a few times."

"I asked you why, not what you did." He gave me a strange look. "You are the one who wanted to play the game."

"Touché." He sighed. "First of all let me say that last year I had a hard time controlling my anger, I'm better at it now, so don't think any differently about me."

"Alright, now get on with it." I gestured for him to talk.

"He was talking about Alice in a way that I didn't happen to appreciate, I won't go into detail though because I try to block it out of my memory."

"He treats girls like-"

"Shit." He interrupted.

"Exactly." I nodded.

"Alice tells me he is a little mean to you." He said, looking at me through the corner of his eye.

"That is the biggest understatement of my life." I let out a sad laugh. "I just try to ignore it, its Mike Newton so what he says usually goes over everybody's heads anyway."

"That doesn't make him any less of a dickhead."

"Touché." I laughed.

We pulled into the familiar hospital parking lot, I could find this place if I was drunk and blind. I'm surprised that they haven't given me my own parking spot yet. He pulled into an empty spot. "Hold on I'll get the door for you." He said, getting out and walking to the passenger side, opening the door for me.

"Thanks." I smiled, getting up.

"No problem." He smiled back as we started walking towards the entrance. "Don't be nervous about going in here, my dad is great, he can check on your arm and it will be all good." He said, opening the door for me.

"Trust me, I'll be fine." I let out a laugh, and walked to the front desk.

Edward was about to say something when the receptionist looked over at me and smiled wide. "Bella! It's been what, three months? That has to be an all time record, and this time you aren't unconscious!"

My face was probably bright red at this point. "Thank you Mary." I rolled my eyes. "Way not to embarrass me."

"Aw kiddo you know I love you." She smiled, taking a look at Edward for the first time and then giving me a wink. "What can I do for you today?"

"Wrist." I said lifting up my arm and pointing at my injury.

"Did you fall off the bed again?"

Edward let out a laugh, I shot him a quick glare and he shut up. "No Mary there was no bed."

"I was hoping my father could look at her, his name is Dr. Cullen." Edward spoke up.

"You are Carlisle's son!" She looked from him to me. "You really know how to pick them."

"Mary…could you please just get Dr. Cullen." I begged, this was one of the most embarrassing moments that I have ever had to live through, I was starting to wish that I was unconscious.

"I'm just having a little fun." She smiled at me and Edward, then walked over to the phone and paged Dr. Cullen. "He will be right with the two of you."

"Want to sit?" Edward said, pointing towards a row of chairs. I nodded and we both sat down, there was a sketchy looking man across from us who kept looking at me. "Just ignore him." Edward whispered next to me.

"He looks like someone off of America's Most Wanted." I whispered back.

"At least he looks like he's after you and not me." He joked.

"That isn't even funny…" I glared at him. "I only have one good arm so I couldn't even fight him."

"Oh yeah, because with both arms you fight like Mike Tyson." He said, letting out a laugh.

"Don't make me bite your ear off." I narrowed my eyes at him jokingly.

"Its lucky we are in a hospital, ears are quite easy to reattach." A man's voice said, walking up to us. It was Dr. Cullen, I recognized him from seeing him around the hospital before. He was very handsome, this went along with my theory that the Cullen's were good looking at that no one in Forks could ever reach their potential of beauty.

Edward stood up so I followed suit, "Edward, I thought we were done with the skipping school routine. Remember what I said about the car and what would happen if you didn't follow the rules."

"I know, I know." He let out a sigh. "But I do have a legitimate reason to be here." That was when he acknowledged me for the first time, he then looked back at Edward curiously. "Dad this is Bella Swan, Bella this is my father."

"It's nice to meet you Dr. Cullen." I stuck out my good hand for him to shake, he took it with his and smiled.

"It's very nice to meet you too, but please call me Carlisle." He said kindly, and then looked at his son. "I'm going to take a guess and say you didn't leave school to introduce me to your friend." I couldn't help but notice he said 'friend' strangely, like he was surprised.

Edward pointed at my arm, "She fell, and it looks pretty bad, wondered if you could take a look at it."

I held my arm out for him to see, "Its not broken, just a sprain, it will be just fine. We didn't even need to keep you from helping actual patients." I said.

"You study up a lot on broken bones?" Carlisle asked.

"No, I'm just unbelievably clumsy." I nodded. "I've broken my wrist and sprained my wrist before, there is a definite difference."

"Well what do you suggest I do for the sprain Dr. Swan?" He smiled.

I let out a laugh. "The pain isn't severe meaning there is no need for a splint, I should just take an aspirin, elevate it on a pillow, and ice it."

"That's exactly what I would say." He let out a laugh. "You ever think about becoming a doctor?"

"Never." I shook my head. "I can't handle blood, not even my own."

"Too bad, there would have been a future in it for you." He smiled. "I think you basically covered everything for your wrist, but if the pain continues I would come back for x-rays."

"Of course." I nodded.

"Bella, do you mind if I borrow Edward here for a second privately?" Carlisle asked.

"That would be fine, he's all yours." I said, Edward gave me a look and walked over a couple feet away with his dad. I sat down, not wanting to stare at the two of them talking. I realized that I was now alone with the creepy serial killer guy, who was still starring at me.

I was contemplating the irony of being murdered in a hospital when Edward came back, I stood up quickly wanting to get out of there. "Sorry about that." He ran a hand through his hair and held out an ice pack in the other, "This is for your wrist."

"Thanks." I took it from him, "I hope I didn't get you in trouble."

"No, of course you didn't, he was talking to me about something else." I gave him a look that said I wasn't buying it. "Its okay, I promise." He let out a laugh. "Do you want to get going?"

I looked at the creepy guy and then back at him, "Yes please!"

He laughed and we both started walking out towards the parking lot, I held the ice pack on my wrist, it definitely felt better. When we go to the car Edward held the door open for me, which made me smile. Never would I think Edward Cullen would be the polite kind that held doors for others.

"Its my turn to ask a question." He said with a smirk when we were both in the car.

"Great." I said sarcastically.

"I won't make it that bad for you…maybe." He smiled, pulling out of the parking lot and on to the main road to my house.

"The point of the game is to give me the absolute worst, that way you have a chance of winning." I explained.

"True, but I thought I would drag it on a bit before I get to the hard-hitting questions, that way its more fun for me."

"Its good to know one of us is at least having fun." I let out a laugh.

"Okay, here it goes." He paused. "How did you really hurt your wrist today?"

I tensed up in surprise, that was not at all what I thought he would ask me, it took me completely off guard. "What, um, do you mean?"

"I know you didn't just fall, the look on your face when you walked into Biology was not from being in pain, you looked too sad." He said throwing a quick glance at me and then back on the road ahead. I was about to open my mouth but he interrupted me, "Remember the game is called Truth."

"The truth is that I did fall…" I let out a sigh, "but with a little help from a certain person."

"Who?" He said looking kind of pissed off at this information.

"Lauren Mallory."

"Unbelievable." He looked even madder than I was over this whole situation, it was actually kind of sweet. "That girl is such bitch."

"Its okay, it could have been worse." I nodded thinking of ways it would have been more embarrassing. "She could have tripped me in the cafeteria."

"Rose would have kicked her ass if she did that." He said, but then looked slightly panicked by this.

"What?" I asked.

"It's nothing, forget it." He said, keeping his eyes on the road.

"Okay well it's my turn to ask a question, and I want to know why you just said what you did." I said while he groaned, which made me smile.

"Alright, but let me just say that that is pretty ruthless." He gave me a look that made me laugh. "Rosalie Hale, my brother Emmett's girlfriend, absolutely hates Lauren, probably because she's always blatantly flirting with Em."

"There's more to this story, I can tell." I said, gesturing for him to go on.

"Rose gets mad when Lauren does shit to other people…" He looked nervous, "Especially people who are, um, friends of Emmett or his family."

"Are you saying that I'm your friend?" I laughed at how hard that was for him to get out.

He rolled his eyes, "Wipe the smirk off of your face."

"Are we going to get matching best friends' bracelets?" I laughed, he covered his face with his hands but left a crack between two fingers to see the road. "We can play hide and seek on the weekends, bake cookies, oh and go shopping. Gee, this is going to be great." I joked, it was fun to watch him squirm.

"That isn't funny." He said, which just made me laugh harder.

"You're right, it's actually kind of hilarious." I said, grabbing his arm and uncovering his face. His face was slightly red from blushing—it was kind of adorable.

"And people wonder why I don't talk to anyone at school." He looked at me for a second, a shiver ran through me. It was silent after that, I wasn't sure if he felt it too, but it was strange to me.

We pulled up to my house ten minutes later, my parents weren't home, but my truck was in the driveway. "Um, how is my truck here?"

"I kind of...stole your keys before we left school and put them in my locker for Alice, so she could bring it home." He said like it was no big deal.

"That's a little-"

"Creepy." He interrupted. "Yeah, but look at the bright side, your car is here." He smiled.

I let out a laugh, "How did Alice get home?"

"Emmett drove behind her, or should I say in front of her since the truck was too slow and he was getting impatient." He smirked.

"My truck is amazing, it doesn't matter if it's slow." I said sticking up for my car, which has become my baby.

"It's a great truck, suits you."

"Are you saying that I'm slow?" I said trying to look upset.

He laughed, "Of course not."

"Good because, friends don't make fun of friends." I smirked, "And you want to be best friends remember."

He shook his head, "You are going to torture me with the whole friend thing aren't you?"

"That's what friends are for." I nodded, opening the door. "Thank you for the ride friend."

I could hear him laughing as I got out of the car, he was probably shaking his head while running a hand through his hair like always. I started walking towards my front door, "Hey Bella."

I turned around to see Edward talking through the side window that he had rolled down. "Yeah?" I asked.

"Me, Alice, Jasper, and all of them watch movies every Tuesday night at my house, its just something stupid that we've done since we were younger and never stopped. Do you want to come over tomorrow and join us? If you want to, you don't have to, I just thought I would ask." He looked nervous again.

"Yeah, I would love to." I smiled, and he looked calm.

"Good." He smiled back. "Um, I'll pick you up at seven tomorrow night?"

"That sounds good." I nodded.

"Okay great, go rest your arm, and I will see you tomorrow." He nodded, and drove off.

Tomorrow night I would not only be hanging out with Edward, I would be at his house with him while we watched a movie. Three weeks ago this would have never been my life, but I was not complaining.


	6. Chapter 6

**Here is chapter six of the story, I hope you enjoy it. I know people are dying to get them together but I'm playing it out slowly. Also I broke my nose yesterday, so I have a slight headache which makes it hard to look at a bright computer screen for a long period of time, but I will try to update again this weekend. I will try to get an update for 'Double Take' up too, for any of you who read it.**

**Reviews are very much welcome, I love to read about what you like and what you don't. Good or bad keep them coming, well mostly good I hope.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the characters, that's all Stephanie Meyer. **

*** * ***

I had a detention. Me, Bella Marie Swan, daughter of the chief of police, now had her first ever after school detention. This just happened to go along with my first time ever skipping class, and my first time hanging out with Edward Cullen. The strange thing was that I did not regret it—at all. For once in my life I did something exciting and out of my ordinary, and I liked it.

It was harder to convince my parents that this was overall a good thing for me. I at least showed them that I can screw up sometimes, it is possible, and that I'm not always the boring predictable me. Of course they were upset, my dad was downright furious, although I did see a flash of happiness flash across her face when she found out that a boy had been involved. Luckily they didn't ground me, since I played the 'my arm hurts' card, which got me off scot-free, well minus the detention.

I knew I was going to get in some trouble the next day, it was inevitable, so when I got pulled out of class at the end of English, I knew what was coming. It was my first time going into the principal's office, or just the office in general—I went there once to pass in a permission slip to a field trip in ninth grade, where ironically I ended up having to leave the trip early because I slipped and broke my ankle.

Principal Greene gave me a long lecture on how skipping class is irresponsible and how breaking the rules can be a bad habit to have in the future. I nodded when needed and made myself seem disappointed during all the right times, all the while watching the clock. Forty-two minutes spent in his office, and everything he said went right over my head. Since it was my 'first offense', as he put it, I was getting off easy.

"Isabella, I am again extremely disappointed in your actions." He said as I was getting up to leave, it was about time too, I was starting to feel claustrophobic being in his office too long.

"I know, as am I, next time I will think before I make bad decisions." I nodded.

"Good and you might also want to rethink your new friendship with Mr. Cullen. He is a smart kid but a bad seed." He opened his office door for me. "And he will be harshly punished for his actions as well."

Guilt flowed through me quickly. With all the concern over what would happen to me and the trouble I would be getting in, I had completely forgotten about Edward. Harsher punishment probably meant he would get into even more trouble than I was, most likely because of his less than perfect track record. This was all my fault.

"Mr. Greene, please don't punish him, it was all my idea to leave school. He was doing me a favor because my wrist hurt, I couldn't drive alone, and he generously offered to bring me."

"If I let Mr. Cullen off what lessons would he learn from that?"

"That helping others is a good thing?" I smiled innocently.

"Nice try Miss. Swan but skipping class is a rule that he must learn to not break, and if that means a harsh punishment than so be it." I could tell he wanted that to be the end of our conversation, but I couldn't do that.

"Then I want the same punishment that he gets."

He looked taken aback by this, probably thought that I was crazy, I even thought I was pretty crazy so it's understandable. "I was very generous with just that one detention, it is at your best interest to take that and be done with it."

"With all due respect sir, I believe I deserve the same if not more for what I did."

He thought about this for a second, "In that case, one day suspension tomorrow." He said with a stupid smirk on his face. "Unless you feel that more is deserved."

I sighed, "No, no. One day is plenty."

"Alright Miss. Swan, have a good rest of the day." He said, and then looked into the open office. "Mr. Cullen, you know the drill." He said going into his office, leaving the door open for Edward.

That's when I first saw him sitting there, he was shaking his head while trying not to laugh, great he heard what I just said. As I walked passed him he looked at me. "I know you aren't the usual juvenile delinquent but when the principal lets you off easy, you're supposed to take it."

"I couldn't just let you get all the crap for this."

He ran a hand through his already messy hair, smiling down at me. "You care way too much about other people."

"No, just my friends." I winked and walked out of the office, I could hear him quietly laughing as the door shut behind me.

Now to go along with my first time skipping class, my first time disappointing my parents, my first time in the office, my first time playing Truth with a guy and my first time winking at Edward Cullen—I now had my first suspension. Isn't life just grand?

*** * ***

Alice was at my locker before lunch waiting for me, at least that's what it looked like. When she spotted me her face got instantly excited and she ran over, hugging me hard. For someone who I have had only one conversation with, she treated me like we have been best friends for years.

"Bella, I've wanted to talk to you since yesterday, but I realized I don't have your number, which you really need to give me. Then I was looking for you in Spanish class and you weren't there, by the way I can give you the assignment later if you want, but of course you want it because then you would get a zero and thats never good." She said, I was pretty sure she didn't take a breath that entire time.

"Sorry, I was in the office during Spanish." I said, opening my locker and putting my books away.

"Yeah, Edward told me you guys skipped class together yesterday. I didn't think you were the type."

"Neither did I." I let out a quiet laugh, "but it was definitely a one time thing."

"Good, because I don't want to see you get in any trouble." She smiled. It was at that moment I realized that I wanted Alice as my friend. I liked that she cared about other people, wanting everyone to be happy, it's a good quality.

"Me either, I got my first suspension ever in my life." I sighed.

"That sucks, did your parents completely freak out, and are you going to be able to come to movie night tonight?" She said too quickly, another quality that I've found she possesses.

"My parents don't exactly know that I have the whole day off tomorrow, but I really hope that I can go, I'm looking forward to it." We started walking towards the cafeteria, Alice didn't seem to notice that people were talking about us, if she did notice she didn't seem to care. A person could get a pretty bad reputation hanging out with me.

"You should have seen my mom's face when Edward told us that you were coming tonight. He has never, and I mean never, brought anyone to movie night. This is a big deal."

I felt those flutters in my stomach that I sometimes got when I was with Edward, I didn't know how to explain them. "That doesn't make me nervous or anything." I joked.

"Don't be Bella, after the first thirty or so minutes of us poking and prodding you, it should be a very fun evening." She laughed, I hoped that was a joke. I wrinkled my nose as we both said our goodbyes, and I made sure to give Alice my cell phone number before she left.

The cafeteria was full by the time we got in there. The usual cliques of people were together. Edward was at our table with his earphones in and the hood of his black sweatshirt on his head, most people would probably be scared by this, but I was used to it. I also noticed Jasper, Rosalie, and Emmett at another table where Alice was just joining them—if they were so close with Edward why did they sit so far from each other?

I sat down in my usual seat, farthest from Edward, we were friends but why screw up our usual routine. When he saw me a crooked smiled appeared on his face that made my breath hitch for a moment, he took the earphones out. "Hey loser." He said with a smirk.

I laughed, "Is that how you treat people?"

"No, just my friends." He said mocking me from earlier.

"I don't appreciate it." I stuck my tongue out, pulling out my lunch from my usual paper bag. "And to think I was going to share my peanut butter and jelly sandwich with you, tsk tsk."

His bottom lip protruded out, "I'm sorry." He looked like a little kid, which was funny seeing as though he had scruff on his face.

"You are awful." I laughed, passing half of the sandwich towards him, which he took happily.

I started to eat my lunch, I wasn't too hungry though, plus it was difficult to eat feeling Edward's eyes on me. When I looked over at him, his eyes averted towards the table quickly. "Are you going to awkwardly stare at me the entire lunch period or what?"

He looked at me, "I wasn't awkwardly starring."

"You said that you don't lie." I smirked, he let out a groan and ran his hand through his hair. "But I can totally see why you don't lie, you suck at it."

"Okay so yes I was looking at you, but not starring. Starring sounds strange, that's more something peeping toms or perverts do."

"Alright, good point." I nodded. "But you don't have to look at me through lunch, we can actually speak to one another."

"There is a certain game of Truth that is going on, and it's also my turn." He smirked.

"Yeah, I liked the starring—or looking better." I said shaking my head.

"You aren't getting out of this easy." He smiled. "My question is what is it that you want to be when you're older?"

"This will probably sound stupid, but I would love to be a writer." I said, keeping my eyes on the table. That was the first time I have ever said it, my parents didn't even know that. I just always thought people would find it ridiculous.

"That's not stupid at all." He said and I looked at him.

"I know its not, its just not a practical job choice."

"I think you would make a great writer." He nodded.

"You've never even read anything that I've written." I laughed. "But thanks anyway."

"When you write your first novel may I suggest in the dedication section that you put 'This would have never happened with out the coolest person in Forks, Edward Cullen'." He winked.

I shook my head, "That actually fits perfectly with the whole book, the theme of it will be big egos and how they are very unattractive."

"I am hurt Bella." He held his hand to his heart. "I might have to uninvite you to the movie tonight."

"You wouldn't, Alice already told me that she's excited that I'm going, plus she said your mom was thrilled and you wouldn't want to disappoint her, now would you?" I smirked.

"Wow...that is really embarrassing." He ran a hand over his face. "Did she say anything else?"

"No, is there more to tell?"

"No, but when Alice gets excited about something she just doesn't stop talking, I think she should be studied or something, she can go for a full two minutes without taking a breath, that has to be something special."

"I've noticed that about her." I laughed.

"Yeah, but its hard not to love her when she gets like that, its also not too hard to get annoyed with her either."

"Can I ask you something?" I looked at him. "It's my Truth question."

"Go for it." He nodded.

"Alright, so you hang out with Alice, Jasper, Emmett, and Rosalie—at least I'm guessing you do since you talk about them occasionally, but my question is why don't you sit with them at lunch, or talk to them in school?"

"I talk to them in school." He assured me.

"I get that, but you don't talk to them that often, why?" I asked.

"We used to all hang out together, a lot, I mean we still do but it's different. Freshman year they paired up and started dating which left me to be the kind of fifth wheel." He sighed slightly. "I love them though, two of them I kind of have to since we're related, but they are all my friends, best friends. but after awhile it became more Alice and Jasper and Em and Rose."

"You felt kicked out of the group?"

"No, I wouldn't say I felt kicked out, it was just not the same. I got used to being by myself." He shrugged. "I started hanging out with a bad crowd, got into some trouble, and wasn't doing well. They were all there for me though even when I was a giant dickhead."

"Why do you sit by yourself?" I asked, and he gestured towards me. "Okay, yes I am here now, but all last year you were alone."

"Last year I was an angry person, just wanted to be left alone all of the time, every little thing just pissed me off. Even though I'm better, I just got so used to being by myself—lunch time gave me a chance to think and clear my head during the day."

"Do you want me to leave?" I asked pretending to get up, he looked panicked.

"No, you here is-"

"Amazing." I laughed.

"Sure, that's what I was going to say…" He rolled his eyes laughing. "But in all seriousness, I like that you sit here."

I blushed slightly which made him laugh. "Don't laugh, its not like I can control it, and don't get cocky, the clock changing time could make me blush—it's not difficult."

"Time gets me flustered too." He said, trying not to laugh.

Before I could yell at him, the bell rang, which meant that we would go our separate ways. I started gathering my trash, standing up from the seat, I turned around to throw my trash away but almost screamed when Edward was there. "Holy crap!" I said holding onto my chest and trying to breathe. "You scared the hell out of me!"

He laughed, "How could I of possibly scared you, I've been standing here the entire time? It's not like I jumped out at you from around the corner."

I threw my trash away and then looked at him, "You usually run out of here like there's a fire in the room."

"Well we're going to the same class so…" He shrugged.

"You want to walk together?" I asked.

"No, I'm just standing here waiting for you to leave so that I can walk to Biology by myself."

"Okay." I said, walking away. He caught up, walking next to me, which made me smile. I quickly started to notice the people talking in the halls as they watched us walk by, it was like wild fire spread through the halls of Forks High. I could now hear the rumor mill, school outcast and school whore find romance through the loneliness of their pitiful lives. We did not speak the entire walk there, Edward just kept his head down low hidden in his hood, while I tried to look calm through the blatant stares. When we got to Biology we each took our normal seats in the back.

Today we had to read silently out of our books, I read the same paragraph twenty times and didn't obtain any knowledge. I was too excited thinking about tonight and hanging out with my new friend, and I would get to see Edward in his own environment with his friends and family. I was also pretty nervous, Alice said that this was a big deal, I've never been a big deal. What if I fell flat on my face or what if they asked me about the rumors from summer...

I felt a tap on my shoulder and looked up to see Edward, "Did you hear me?"

"Um, yeah, of course." I nodded.

"What did I say then?" He smirked.

"That I am the coolest person ever…" I smirked back.

"I can see how me telling you the bell rang could be misinterpreted like that." He nodded, letting out a laugh. I looked around the room, everyone was gone, even Mr. Banner. "You were really deep in thought, I almost didn't want to disturb you."

"Thank god you did, I can't miss another gym class. One suspension is quite enough for me." I picked up my books, walking to my next class with Edward behind me.

"You can take comfort in knowing you won't be alone tomorrow, and think of it as a nice free day off of school. Getting to sleep in, watch TV, and do whatever else you do."

"If you feel so strongly about it than maybe you can tell my parents for me." I smiled.

"And have chief Swan point his gun at me? No thank you." He laughed. "Just tell them that it will never happen again and that you regret ever leaving school, if you can throw some tears in it will really make things easier."

We were standing outside the locker room door, "I'll try it and hopefully it works out." I sighed. "Or else there might not be a movie night in my future for a long time."

A flash of what looked like sadness was on his face but then he covered it up, looking away. "I guess you'll have to wait and see."

I nodded, "Well I gave Alice my number and I have hers so I'll let her know the details, good or bad, praying they are good though."

"I should probably get to class." He nodded. "I'll pick you up at seven if everything goes okay."

"See you later." I gave him one last smile, and went to get ready for my least favorite class of the day—gym.

*** * ***

"Suspension?!" My mom screeched after I broke the news of my punishment, thank god my dad was still at work, so I could prepare for what he would do.

"Its only one day, plus at the end of today principal Greene came up to me and said it wont even show up on my permanent record—it will just be marked as an absence."

"At least one positive thing comes out of this mess." She let out a frustrated sigh. "Did I mention that I am very disappointed?"

I nodded, "Only about three hundred and forty-seven times."

"Make it three forty-eight, because I am really disappointed. Leaving school is so unlike you Bella."

"I know, I know—but my wrist hurt, what was I going to do, go to gym and play volleyball in pain?" I got lucky today, Coach Clapp said I could sit out until my arm felt better, which got me wondering if I could drag this out for the rest of the year.

"You could of went to the nurse and called me, I would of left work to come and get you."

"The pain was so bad. I wasn't thinking straight." I said making my eyes water so that it looked as if I was crying, maybe Edward's plan would work.

"Oh honey…" She said, pulling me into a tight hug. "It's okay."

"I feel so guilty." I pretended to sob even harder into her shoulder.

She pulled away, while I fake sniffled. "Everybody makes mistakes, this was yours, and everything will be fine. We don't even have to tell your father, he goes to work before you usually leave for school and comes home late, he won't even know."

"Really?" I said sadly, wiping a nonexistent tear away.

"Yes, it will be our little secret." She smiled, patting my shoulder.

"Thank you so much." I smiled wide. She went back to making dinner, while I sat at the kitchen table contemplating how to ask her about the movie thing tonight, deciding the best way to do it is to just be straight forward. "Can I ask you something?"

"I never skipped school, don't believe what anyone else says." She said too quickly, my mom was a horrible liar.

"No, that wasn't it." I laughed, shaking my head. "I was wondering if I could maybe go over a friend's house to watch a movie tonight?"

"No." She said turning to look at me. "You skipped school yesterday, and now you got a suspension for tomorrow, you're lucky that you aren't grounded young lady."

"But I wont be home late." I sighed.

"Don't fight me on this."

"I already said I could go though." I pouted, probably looking like a five year old who was told she couldn't have a cookie before dinner.

"You can call her back and say no." She shook her head and turned back to face the counter. "I'm putting my foot down on this Bella."

I was discouraged for a few moments, sitting there thinking out my options, but an idea popped into my head. "I guess I'll call Edward and tell him that we'll just have to do it on another night." I let out a dramatic sigh, reaching for the phone.

"Edward?" She turned around fast, and I nodded, her face looked a lot happier than it did a few seconds before. "Dr. Cullen's son?"

"That's the one." I said, turning on the phone as if I was about to call him. "He was supposed to pick me up at seven, so I better call and tell him not to come." I started dialing random numbers.

"You can go!" She said loudly, running to take the phone out of my hand and shut it off.

"I can?" I asked as if this was a surprise, but I knew my mom could not resist her only daughter hanging out with a boy. She was always asking me about guys, and she was always disappointed when I would say that there was none. I've never dated anyone before, the only kiss I have ever gotten I try to keep out of my mind.

"Yes, of course, I would hate to break up a date." She said with a huge grin on her face, I almost wanted to tell her that it wasn't a date, but that would break her heart and she might not let me go.

"Thank you!" I smiled. I had been looking forward to tonight even though it wasn't a date, definitely not, it was just two friends hanging out with each other outside of school. Completely platonic.

"You should go get ready, it's already six." She said, pushing me out of my chair. "Oh and before you go upstairs, what do you want to do for your birthday?"

"Nothing." I sighed, I did this every year. She would ask me what I wanted to do, I say nothing, and then she pouts. I almost forgot that my birthday was Friday, or maybe I'm just getting really good at suppressing it from my thoughts.

"Eighteen is a big deal." She said, looking sad.

"Fine we can go out for dinner, nothing fancy, and no presents." I said sternly, walking away and stomping up the stairs.

"We'll see…" She yelled from downstairs, which made me roll my eyes.

*** * ***

At seven o'clock I was showered, dressed, and ready to leave. When I found out that I could actually go tonight, I sent Alice a text message saying that it was all set and that everything worked out perfectly. She then texted me back a very long message with about a hundred exclamation points, which I took as her being excited. She also said Edward was happy, making me instantly happy.

I decided to curl my hair for tonight, it always made it look shiner and nicer. I put on a little bit of make-up, just to bring out my face a little. The actual picking of clothing was difficult, I couldn't go overboard because it wasn't a date, but I didn't want to look like a slob either. I don't know why I was making such a big deal about this, its not like Edward was stressing over it.

Luckily Alice must be some kind of psychic angel who comes to the rescue of those less stylish than her, ten minutes before seven my phone vibrated. I picked it up, looking at my new message. _'You should wear those nice dark blue jeans you wore that day I first drove your car home for you, and something blue on top, the color looks good on you. :) can't wait to see you –Al.'_

I sat on the couch in my dark blue jeans and a navy v-neck t-shirt, just like Alice suggested. I looked pretty good, even I had to admit it. My mom kept coming into the living room to look at me, I was almost sure she would start crying. When I saw the car headlights pull in front of my house, I yelled goodbye, and ran out the door as fast as I could before my mom came out insisting on meeting Edward. That would be embarrassing. He was getting out of the car when I walked over to him, "Quick get in and drive before my mom says something to humiliate me."

He laughed, holding the door open for me. "In that case, I think I'll stick around then."

I sat down, "Well you left your keys in here, I'm leaving if you don't get in within the next five seconds and do I have to remind you that I haven't driven a car that goes over forty in a long time, so I might get a little crazy."

He smiled, shutting the door. I couldn't help but notice that he shaved for tonight, and he smelled amazing—the car was filled with the scent of his cologne, a girl could find herself getting into an intoxicated bliss sitting here too long. I almost didn't hear him get into the car next to me, until his arm accidentally brushed into mine, sending shivers through my entire body. He started the car, pulling away where I could see my mom's face in the front window smiling, I held back a laugh.

"Your dad wasn't home?" He asked after a few moments.

"No, why did you want to take him to movie night instead?" I smirked.

"As fun as that sounds, no thank you." He sighed. "I am just surprised that he would let you hang out with me."

"He doesn't know I'm here, plus why would he even care? It's not like you're O.J. Simpson or something, although…" I paused. "Those boots you have on do look familiar. You don't have leather gloves and knives in the backseat do you?"

He laughed, "If I told you then I would have to kill you, but then again if I was O.J. that would be my plan anyway."

"Damn, I fell for the old come to my house to watch a movie trick—" I sighed dramatically "I have a feeling we are really going to an old shed in the middle of the woods."

He nodded, "And then after that, I will be driving to Mexico."

"It would make more sense to go to Canada, much closer." I let out a laugh.

"Yeah, serial killer is not in my future if I can't even pull off a decent getaway."

"True, I would stick to a more practical profession." I nodded. "But why would my dad not like you?"

"Let's just say they know me at the police station as well as they know you at the hospital." He laughed quietly.

"Then you've already met my dad…"

"We're on a first name basis." He nodded.

"That's why he looked so pissed when he found out it was you I skipped school with..." I sighed remebering the look on his face when just the mention of the name Edward was said, the little vein in his head almost burst.

"I can turn around and you can go on not knowing me, it would be fine."

"Well you see I'm only hanging out with to get with your brother, so that would mess up my entire plan." I said trying not to laugh.

"That isn't even funny." He said laughing.

"It kind of was." I smiled. "But I don't care what you did in the past, from what I know about you so far, you seem pretty decent."

"Thanks." He turned his head away from me, but I could see that he was smiling, possibly blushing too. That was cute. He put on a mix CD, turning it up. It was a song that I have never heard, the lyrics were good though and it was calming.

The conversation sort of peaked at the whole murder discussion, I guess you could say it was dead silent now. I kept that little ditty in my mind, instead of saying it out loud in fear of severe embarrassment. I watched out the window, wondering where the Cullen's could possibly live. I have seen Alice and Emmett at parties before, but they've never thrown one.

When we slowed at a street in the middle of the woods, I began to get somewhat nervous. There was a long dirt road, with dark trees surrounding us. Maybe the whole murder thing wasn't a joke.

"Its alright, my parents just thought it would be cool to live in the middle of nowhere." He said, probably sensing my fear.

"Oh, okay." I said as we pulled up in front of this giant, beautiful house. It was lighten by the many lights inside, a chandelier could be seen hanging from the ceiling. There was huge glass windows that were slightly tinted all around the exterior, you could make out a staircase through the main window. It was by far the nicest place in Forks, too bad it was so hidden.

Edward got out as I continued to stare, when my door opened I got out and he let out a laugh. "We like windows."

"Your house is amazing." I looked at him and smiled.

"Tell my mom that, I have nothing to do with it." He smiled, "You ready to go in?"

I nodded, "Yes, I am."


	7. Chapter 7

**Thank you everyone who has read the story and has sent me amazing reviews, I read each and just smile as I do so. I must look like a tool, but I don't care. I will update as soon as I can, I have two research papers due in a few weeks, so that is kind of on my mind. I do however have a week off of school, a nice little break giving me a good amount of writing time. Keep the reviews coming, they make me want to write more.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight, that is all Smeyer.**

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"Do you go shopping a lot?" Alice asked excitedly, she was very close to my face. "I mean, people say they do but they go like twice a month, that just isn't a lot to me. I'm talking about at least twice a week—maybe three, that's how often I like to get out. So do you like to shop?"

That is question thirty-two. When I first came into the Cullen household I was bombarded by people, it's as if I was some rare species that was just discovered and every thing that could be known needed to be. Alice was especially curious about me, a game of twenty questions turned into an interrogation scene out of Law & Order. I did not enjoy being the center of attention but I went with the flow of things not wanting to appear rude.

"Not really, I actually think its kind of boring to look at clothes for too long." I shrugged.

Alice gasped and everyone, including Edward, looked nervous. "Boring! Clothes! Are you serious? The mall is the greatest thing to happen to the female since Brad Pitt was born. Bella, how could you possibly not love looking at so many different pieces of clothing, it's like art, beautiful wearable art."

"Um, can I change my answer?" I bit my lip looking around the room at everyone. I haven't gotten a bad reaction to one of my answers since question twelve when Emmett looked at me like I was insane when I said that I have never seen an episode of True Blood. I just had to explain that vampires weren't really my thing.

"I will make you change your answer." She looked at me sternly. "We are just going to have to go on a shopping trip, maybe if we go together I can show you the fun of it."

"That's not really a good idea Al…" Edward let out a sigh.

"And may I ask why not? I am a blast to be around and new clothes always make a girl very happy, it's a fact."

"You get sort of bossy when you are shopping." He said nervously.

"I do not get bossy!" She glared, and then looked at Rosalie. "Rose tell him I am not bossy!"

"If Hitler was a shopaholic his name would be Alice Cullen." She said and I had to bite back a laugh.

I had figured out pretty much everyone in the room by now. Rose was the stubborn one who always had to be right, which was nice, she actually had common sense unlike a lot of other blondes that I know. Alice was the optimistic, talkative, shopping addict. Jasper was the calm and quiet one, and was always there to lend you a sympathetic smile. Emmett was the one with the dirty mind, he could turn a sentence into an inappropriate joke, which I tried very hard not to laugh at because Rose didn't want anyone to encourage him. Then there was Edward who was just to sum it up—incredible.

"You are comparing me to Hitler? That is just mean." She pouted.

"I'm not necessarily saying you are similar I was just saying that you do get a little crazy when you are let loose in a clothing store." Rose said trying to make her last comment sound better.

"Okay, so I get a little out of hand but it's who I am and if you don't like it…" She stuck out her tongue. "Was that a yes to the shopping then Bella?"

I looked at Edward who mouthed an 'I'm sorry' and I couldn't help but smile. "Yeah, sounds great." I tried to be convincing.

She squealed, "Yay, it is going to be awesome! We can drive out to Port Angeles, they have the best shops, and then we can have a total shopping day. Hours and hours in and out of stores, I am so excited!"

The thought of walking around all day and having to be in dressing rooms for hours made me exhausted. It would make Alice happy though and I liked her, she was sweet. Plus one day out of my life isn't going to kill me, I hope.

Edward held up the DVD, attempting to change the subject, god bless him. "Can I put it in?"

"That's what he said." Emmett said with a smirk. I let out a laugh, while everyone else just shook their heads.

"You are such a loser." Jasper sighed, rolling his eyes.

"It was one of my best ones." He said, patting himself on the back.

"Please put the movie in so we can all forget the idiot that is my boyfriend." Rose said sighing. This didn't even look like it hurt Emmett, he must have gotten those kinds of comments often.

"Do you mind if I use your bathroom?" I asked Alice who was next to me.

"Bella, mi casa es su casa." She said.

"Where is it?" I smiled. "In English por favor."

She let out a laugh, "If you go up the stairs, it is the first door on the left."

"Gracias." I said, getting up and heading up the stairs, from the top step you could see completely down into the living room. Edward was putting the movie in, Rose was hitting Emmett, and Jasper was giving Alice a kiss on the top of her head. I liked all of their company, I just needed a quick breather from the insanity.

I found the bathroom and just like the rest of the house it was nicely decorated. Edward told me his mom was an interior decorator, if her work on their house was any indication of what she could do, then she was definitely worth the money. I leaned against the wall, taking deep breaths to kind of adjust to this whole experience. Edward was one thing, but meeting all these new people at the same time was kind of overwhelming.

After a nice quiet minute, I walked out, as I was doing this I could hear talking coming from down the stairs. "I guess she seems nice." I could hear Rosalie say.

"What do you mean seems, she is nice." Alice said.

"What she's trying to say is that, yeah she comes off nice, but then again she did fuck that girl's boyfriend over the summer. Nice girls don't do that." Emmett said and I felt sick.

"Seriously Em, don't do it." Edward said sounding pissed off.

"Do what? I am just saying."

"Those were rumors alright? If you believed everything that was said in Forks then that would make me a psychotic manic depressant that went to jail over the summer for stabbing someone."

"But that is different." Jasper said. "People saw her leave the room with that James guy at the party. It's a little more than just gossip."

"You guys are fucking ridiculous." Edward sighed.

"They are just trying to look out for you." Alice said, which made me mad, her and Edward were the only two that I could count on down there and now she was sounding as if she was on the other side.

"Could you all just stop, first off she gets enough shit at school, I didn't invite her here so that she could be harassed in a confined space by all of you."

"Fine, end of this, but if she does something to hurt you…I will be the first to say that I told you so." Rose said in a snotty tone.

I wanted to cry, scream, and throw up all at the same time. Edward stood up for me which was nice, but it's the fact that I had just spent an hour with all of these people being genuinely kind to them and when I leave the room they treat me like every other person that I hated in this town. I couldn't just leave the house though, confrontation wasn't my thing and Edward was my ride home. I walked downstairs as if nothing had ever happened, then sat on the couch in-between Edward and Alice. He gave me a small smile and I attempted to give him one back.

"Is Zoolander alright with you Bella, we unfortunately put Emmett in charge of picking the movie this week, meaning all our IQs are about to decrease a little bit." Rose asked.

"Yeah, that's fine." I said.

Jasper turned the lights off, while Alice pressed play. I really did not care what we watched because nothing could take my mind off what they were talking about while I was supposed to be in the bathroom. This was a mistake coming here. I should of known that I had a horrible reputation and everyone was against me, well everybody except for Edward Cullen, but even he made me a little angry for bringing me here tonight.

I sat there starring blankly at the screen in front of me, everything that was happening went over my head. All I could do was count down the minutes until I would be walking out of the house and never have to come back here. Edward would look at me occasionally during the movie, that was when I would try to look interested in what was going on.

Finally I was put out of my misery when the credits rolled and the lights went back on. I was just praying that another round of twenty questions wasn't on the 'to do' list. Thankfully Edward saved me once again, "Its getting kind of late, I should bring Bella home." He said getting up and I got up as well, probably a little too fast.

"You should come again next week, it was a lot of fun." Rose said and it took all I could not to just laugh at her face and call her out on her two-faced ways.

"Yeah, maybe." I nodded while attempting to smile.

"Bella, how about we do the shopping trip this weekend?" Alice asked.

"Um, well I have to ask, I think I might actually be busy this weekend though." I tried to look like this was really sad.

"Definitely soon though, you aren't getting out of this." She fake glared.

"Okay, let's go." Edward said, grabbing a hold of my upper arm and walking me slowly toward the door. I could hear everyone saying their goodbyes behind me but I just ignored them.

When the cold night air hit me, I took a deep happy breath as we walked to his car. He opened the door for me and I got in. The great night that I was planning to have was completely shitty, yes I swore, but it was. When he got in next to me, he started the car up and remained silent as we pulled away from his house. He was acting weird. Every twenty seconds he would open his mouth as if he was about to say something then snap his mouth shut. This went on for about ten minutes. "You heard?"

"What?" I asked pretending to be clueless, but I knew what he was getting at.

"When you went upstairs, you must have heard everyone talking." He sighed, running a hand through his hair.

"Talking? Nope, never heard any talking."

He looked at me and then smiled slightly, "You are a horrible liar."

"Okay, so yes, I might have heard some of the conversation." I nodded, looking out the window. We pulled up in front of my house, Edward put it in park and then reached over to touch my arm lightly. It made me forget everything that had happened earlier, his touch was warm on my skin.

"I'm sorry." He said quietly not looking at me, but at his hand on my arm. Maybe he felt the tingles as well.

"You didn't do anything wrong." I shook my head trying to get him to meet my gaze.

"I shouldn't have brought you tonight." He sighed, looking at my face for the first time. "If I had known they would be saying shit like that, seriously Bella you deal with that enough at school, they were just-"

"Trying to warn you about me." I interrupted.

"They were just being assholes." He said probably trying to make me feel better.

"I don't blame them, all rumors have some truth for the most part." I looked away, "Look, I should go." I said pulling his hand away from my arm, opening the car door.

"It has been me and the four of them for years, having you over was just different for us all. Plus they don't know you, neither do I for that matter, but I want to get to know you. Earlier you said that what I did in my past didn't matter to you, well it's the same thing with you. Fuck the rumors, I couldn't give two shits about them."

I smiled at him. "Okay."

"Okay what?" He let out a laugh.

"I didn't know what to say." I laughed. "Thank you though, it's nice to know that there is someone in Forks who cares just a little bit."

"Anyone who will get a suspension for me deserves some respect, even if it is stupid when that person could have only gotten a detention." He smirked.

"Wow that hurts, I was just trying to be nice." I said sounding offended.

"I do appreciate it." He smiled. "So what are you going to do on your wonderful day off tomorrow?"

"Fly to Paris, hang out with my best friend Angelina Jolie, maybe swing by the moon…you know, the usual stuff that I do."

"Sounds fun, could you get me Angelina's number?" He winked.

"You aren't her type." I smirked.

"Are you kidding, I am a catch." He gestured to himself like he was the ultimate prize, to some girls he definitely was. Not me though because we were just friends, nothing more, never.

I rolled my eyes, "In your dreams Cullen."

"Tell me I'm pretty." He pouted, which made me start laughing hysterically. "Come on, say it…"

"You are gorgeous." I nodded.

"See that wasn't hard at all."

I got out of the car, shaking my head and laughing. I turned around and looked at him. "What are your plans for tomorrow?"

"Sleeping in and watching Tyra, she's my favorite." He joked.

"I'm more of an Ellen fan myself."

"She does dance pretty good I'll give her that." He nodded. "Maybe I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Yeah, if you can pry yourself away from the television for a little while." I laughed.

"It will be difficult but I think I could manage it."

"Okay, then tomorrow." I smiled. "Have a goodnight Edward."

"You too, Bella." He gave me his best crooked smile, and that image stayed in my mind all the way inside. When I got in my mom and dad were sitting on the couch, she looked thrilled while he looked as if he was getting a tooth pulled. I ignored them, making my way up to my bedroom where I would lay in bed and think about that smile, but in a friendly way, nothing more.

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**Check out my new story 'I Was Broken', more Twilight fanfic goodness, at least I hope so. I am also writing the last chapter of 'Double Take' tonight, I'm aiming to put that up the earliest tomorrow.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Thank you everyone for reading and reviewing, I've read every single review and they make me smile. Keep them coming. I know a lot of people want to see them together, but waiting awhile makes when it finally happens even better. Also check out my newest story, 'I Was Broken'.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight.**

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"_Hey, you're Jess' friend right?" A raspy voice came from behind me causing me to turn and see who it was. James._

"_Yeah, I'm Bella." I smiled._

"_I've never met a Bella before." He smiled. "I'm James, Jess' boyfriend, I bet you've met a hundred others with the same name as me in your life."_

"_I have, but that makes your parents smart, you can blend in with the rest of the world." I said taking a sip of the mystery punch that was becoming popular amongst the crowd, I'm pretty sure the mystery was rum._

"_A girl who looks like you wouldn't be able to blend in anyway." He smirked and my lips formed an uncontrollable smile. "You want to help me find Jess, she's around here somewhere and I don't want to walk around this place by myself."_

"_Sure." I smiled._

"_Lets start upstairs, I think I saw her go up there." He said beginning to walk and I followed behind._

Knock. Knock. Knock.

I shot up in my bed, looking around the room frantically making sure that I was actually there. I ran a hand through my hair, feeling the sweat that had formed on my forehead. My heart beat rapidly and I could barely breathe. It was just a dream, or the start of a nightmare.

The banging sound that woke me up came from downstairs again, I looked at the clock seeing that it was already past ten. It couldn't be my parents, they were both at work, I got up and walked down the steps to find out where the noise was coming from. Another knock came and I quickly realized that it was the door.

I opened it, standing there was none other than Edward Cullen. _Shit_. He looked me up and down with a slight smirk on his face, "Did I wake you up?"

"Yes, um no." I said not wanting to make him feel bad.

He raised an eyebrow, "Which one is it?"

"Well technically you woke me up, but I should have woken up awhile ago so you did me a favor." I said, and then looked at what I was wearing. A white t-shirt and very short shorts, friends don't show friends this much leg. "I should probably go change."

"You could but I don't mind what you have on." He smirked.

"You're lucky my dad wasn't here to hear that." I laughed. "But come in and sit, I'll be five minutes at most."

"I don't think I've met a girl who takes less than three hours to get ready, I am impressed." He laughed, walking into my house, Edward Cullen was in my house. Never thought that would happen.

"I guess I'm not like most girls." I nodded.

"That's true, you definitely don't blend in." He said giving me a crooked smile, but I suddenly felt nauseous. My mouth opened as if I was going to say something, instead I just turned around and ran up the stairs quickly and into my room. Tears fell from my eyes and I fell to the floor.

_Don't do this now Bella, pull yourself together, it's not his fault he doesn't know anything_. Now I probably looked like a crazy person, great. I wiped my eyes and stood up. I was good at faking it. I threw on a pair of jeans and a blue hoodie, throwing my unruly hair into a messy bun. I walked to the bathroom, brushing my teeth. I looked horrible, but it was just Edward, it's not like I was trying to impress him.

When I got downstairs he was sitting on the couch, watching TV like he has been here a million times before. I let out a quiet laugh and he turned to look at me. I walked over and sat down on the chair away from him. "Anything good on?" I asked, looking at the TV.

"Are you alright?" He said and I turned to look at him.

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?" I shrugged.

"I don't know, you just had a weird look on your face when you first opened the door and then I said something and you ran upstairs like I had a knife or something."

I sighed. "I'm fine." He gave me a look suggesting that he believed otherwise. "Look, I just had a bad dream, no big deal."

"What kind of bad dream?" He looked at me and for a second I almost told him everything, but then again he was the last person that I wanted to tell.

"You know one of those ax murderer ones where they chase you around with a knife, all that bad stuff." I lied.

"Those do suck." He nodded. "But nothing else is bothering you right?"

"Not at all." I lied again.

"Are you still upset about last night, because I should tell you that I went back to my house and told them all off. They all looked completely mortified and they are very sorry."

I covered my face with my hands. "You told them that I heard?" I groaned.

"It's no big deal, they should be called out on there shittiness." He said and I looked at him. "You should have just told them you heard in the first place, I would have loved to see their faces."

"That isn't something I would do." I sighed. "I would feel bad."

"Why would you care?" He asked.

"Being nice to others is a good thing…" I explained.

"Yeah I get that." He laughed. "I think I'm going to ask my next Truth question."

"Great." I groaned.

"Don't sound too excited. Okay, why don't you ever stand up for yourself?"

"I do stand up for myself." I nodded.

"You just said that you would feel bad for confronting people that deserved to be, and then you let someone like Lauren Mallory push you onto the ground and then you don't say anything to her."

"I have a problem with confrontation, I try to avoid it at any cost, hence the reason I don't shove Lauren into a wall or yell at Jessica when she's a bitch to me." I sighed. "The way I see it is if I don't say anything to someone, they won't start anything with me."

"If you don't say anything than people will just continue to walk all over you."

"I can handle it." I said averting my eyes to the TV.

"Is looking away your way of trying to change the subject?" He let out a laugh.

"Yeah, did it work?" I said keeping my eyes on the TV.

"It's your house so I will go along with it." He said and I smiled. We sat there in silence, staring at the TV, at least that's what I was doing—I was too nervous to look over at him. Different emotions were always flowing through me when I was around Edward, I couldn't describe it.

"Do you want to do something?" He asked all of a sudden and I looked at him.

"I wasn't aware that I was boring you." I said.

"You aren't." He laughed. "I just thought that on your free day off of school you would want to live it up."

"Live it up? You do realize that we are in Forks, right?" I laughed. "The only place in Forks that would even be considered fun is, well, nowhere."

"We could go to Port Angeles." He nodded.

"That is true. Although I look like crap today and I would hate to put people through having to see me in public." I said and he gave me a look like I was stupid. "What?"

He looked at me for a moment quietly and then stood up. "Lets go, it will be fun."

"Okay, but I have a Truth left and I will most likely ask you about why you looked at me so weird." I said getting up and started walking out, I could hear him groan behind me.

We walked out to his car, he of course opened the door like he usually did for me. When we were both settled, he started the car and pulled out into the road. It was silent for most of the car ride there and it was sort of awkward, which is strange because usually we could sit peacefully and not have a problem.

"Are we going to speak on the ride there or is this some kind of silent contest that I just unfortunately lost, but then again I wasn't aware so we should have to start over." I looked at him.

"You are just upset because you lost." He smirked, glancing over at me for a moment.

"Actually I think it was a talking contest and I rocked it." I gave a smirk right back.

"Winning must feel pretty awesome, I'm betting you never won one of those before being friends with people like Jessica Stanley who never shut up." He said.

I sighed. "That is very true. I remember one day she went on for fifty-four minutes and thirty-nine seconds just talking about her hair color. Sadly that was probably the most stimulating conversation that we ever had."

He laughed. "How could you hang out with girls like that?"

"Now when I look back on it, I have no idea, but at the time I just didn't think of leaving the clique that I was in. Change sucks." I shrugged.

"Are you glad you got out?" He looked over at me.

"Yeah." I smiled. "Even though I have probably one friend, it is still way better than having to discuss hair spray all day."

"Who is this one friend that you speak of?" He joked.

"Just this one guy, he's a huge tool." I smirked.

"I think I know him." He nodded. "He might be a tool, but he is so fucking good looking. I would date him."

"I kind of had the feeling you swung that way."

"I hope that's sarcasm." He glared at me.

"Maybe." I grinned and he rolled his eyes.

The rest of the drive to Port Angeles was spent with me talking about Edward's sexuality, which I thought was hilarious, he would just pretend to look mad but really wanted to laugh. It was great how comfortable I felt when I was around him usually, but I still wanted to know why he gave me that strange look earlier. When we got to Port Angeles, we pulled into a parking spot in front of a restaurant. That's when I actually realized how hungry I had been, since I didn't get to eat breakfast. He got out, opening my car door for me, I had to make a mental note to mention that he didn't need to do this.

"I'm assuming you're hungry judging by all the rumbling your stomach has been doing." He let out a laugh as we walked to the door, which he of course opened.

"That is embarrassing." I blushed.

"You laugh at me for being gay, I laugh at your bodily functions." He smirked. "Although I will say on record that I am very, very straight."

I smiled, shaking my head as a tall pretty blond girl showed us to our table. I was a little shocked Edward didn't attempt to check her out, every other guy in the place was and she was blatantly staring at him like he was on the menu. Girls at school looked at him like that sometimes too, but it was because he was typed as the bad boy, which is a turn on to some girls.

We took our seats across from each other, it probably looked like a date to everyone around us, but it obviously wasn't. When the girl walked away to get us our drinks I started to laugh a little. "What's so funny?"

"You didn't notice that?" I asked.

"Notice what, is my fly down or something?" He laughed.

"It might be, I wasn't looking down there." I said, and then blushed a little. "Anyways, that girl was totally checking you out."

"No she wasn't." He acted like it was insane.

"Are you kidding, she was almost salivating over you." I nodded.

"We're in a restaurant how do you know she didn't smell a dessert or something that she liked?" He said.

"Yeah, Edward a la mode." I said and he laughed, blushing slightly. It was always cute seeing him squirm when the attention was brought onto him, another thing that we had in common.

The waitress came over, she looked instantly to Edward, I think she had a little chat with the other girl. Edward looked at the girl than at me, and I gave him a huge smirk. "What can I get you?" The girl asked him in a nasally voice, not even bothering to look over at me.

He looked at me. "What do you want Bella?"

"Um, it doesn't matter to me, you decide."

"We'll both have the ravioli." He nodded, keeping his eyes on me the entire time. The poor girl looked disappointed but she still had determination in her eyes. She was way prettier than me, if I was Edward I would of been looking at her.

"This place is great, I've never been here before." I smiled.

"Emmett likes the food here." He nodded. "But then again, he eats anything you put in front of him."

"Yeah he looks well fed." I laughed. "You know, you two don't really look that much alike."

"It's true, his muscles do not compare to mine." He smirked. "Can I direct you towards the beach?" He said flexing an arm.

"You call that a muscle? Check out these guns." I said flexing my own pathetic excuse for arms.

"Wow, impressive." He smiled. "They are almost bigger than toothpicks, not quite though."

"I am offended, how dare you question my strength, I think I might have to kick your butt now." I nodded.

"I would love to see you try." He smiled, shaking his head.

"It's a challenge." I said. "Just call me Rocky Balboa."

"Rocky lost in the first movie." He smirked.

"You have an answer for everything…"

He let out a laugh. "People say it is a very charming quality that I possess."

"Yeah, maybe your mother." I smiled. The waitress came over, putting our food in front of us, it looked and smelled amazing. She put a folded napkin next to his plate, trying to be discrete about it. When she was gone I snatched it away and unfolded it. "Hey cutie if you ever want to get with a real woman, call me." I read out loud.

He grabbed the napkin out of my hand, crumpling it and setting it down on the table. "That is weird."

"I think she called me a man." I laughed. "It really isn't that weird, I mean you are…" I gestured at him.

"I am what?"

"You know." I regretted saying that, so I took a bite of my food trying to avoid having to speak.

"You will eventually run out of food and have to talk." He smirked, taking a bite of his own food. For some reason I couldn't take my eyes off his jaw as he ate, only he could look good while stuffing food in his mouth.

I continued eating in silence, all the while Edward was waiting until he could catch me with an empty mouth. Then I had a good idea, I opened my mouth and before he could speak. "Truth question time, why did you look at me weird when I said I looked horrible today?"

He almost choked on his food. Did I mention before that I liked to see him squirm? "I didn't look at you weird."

"This is Truth…" I pointed out to him.

He groaned. "It's just that when you said that, it was just strange to me." I gestured for him to go on. "Because you aren't, you know, at all unattractive." He kept his eyes on his food and so did I, I was also five different shades of red.

Did Edward Cullen just call me attractive? Friends comment on each others appearances all of the time, it's very normal friend behavior. I think. Things however got strange between us again and I was wishing that I never asked that question. There were always weird moments in-between the comfortable ones, it was our thing. We both finished our food and the waitress brought the bill over, winking at Edward one last time.

I got my wallet out and started to put down money. "It's on me." He said.

"No, I couldn't." I said, trying to give him my money but he shook his head.

"I want to Bella." He nodded, not looking at my face the entire time. "It's the least I can do after you went and got suspended."

"Fine, but next time I pay." I said.

"Next time?" He asked, looking at me for the first time. His green eyes burned right through me. I had to remind myself to actually take a breath.

"Well you eat and I eat, so there is always the possibility of us eating at the same time in the future." I explained. "Friends do that right?"

His expression changed for a moment then went back to normal, he got up and I followed suit. That was strange. We walked past the waitress on our way out and she did that stupid flirty wave that girls do to get attention, then Edward did something that I didn't expect, he actually smiled at her.

Are friends supposed to get jealous when their friend smiles at other girls?


	9. Chapter 9

**I have to admit the last chapter was definitely my least favorite, I wasn't in the writing mood but I felt pressure to get the chapter out. I hate that feeling but sometimes writer's block strikes. Anyways this chapter was a lot better to write, I hope you enjoy. A short chapter to end the weekend, I'll try to update during the week but I'm starting school again and probably won't have that much time.**

**Reviews are always welcome and appreciated.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight.**

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Have you ever been in that kind of awkward silence where it is so quiet that you feel uncomfortable even taking a breath? Well, I was there and hating every moment of it. It had been an hour since we last spoke at the restaurant, after the whole smiling situation. The weirdest part was after he did it, he looked back to see my reaction, a reaction that I had yet to figure out myself.

We were a few minutes away from Forks, which was a huge relief. I don't think I could be trapped in the car like this for any longer. I was too scared to even move, meaning I had not looked at him the whole time, not that it would help me understand what was going through his head.

Edward was one of those people who were hard to read. If it weren't for Truth I probably wouldn't know that much about him. He seemed to hate showing any type of emotion in his face.

"Can I take you somewhere?" He asked quietly out of the blue. I was relieved that he finally said something, it gave me the chance to take my first deep breath since leaving the restaurant.

"Yeah…" I nodded, looking over at him. He was looking straight ahead, again his face was like a blank canvas. After a few minutes of driving we stopped at the side of the woods and panic mode went through me.

"It's okay, don't be nervous, I didn't bring you here to kill you." He said calmly, probably noticing how tense I had gotten.

"Then why did you bring me here exactly?" I asked, and our eyes met for the first time since Port Angeles. The feeling of being uncomfortable was gone, along with the tension that had been in the air.

"It's my favorite place in Forks, I wanted to show you." He said with a slight smile. My heart pounded fast, it was kind of like in the movie The Mask when Jim Carrey's heart flew out of his chest after seeing Cameron Diaz, which is weird because I don't see Edward in a way other than as a friend…

I blinked and looked away. "Your favorite spot is on the side of the road next to some trees."

"This isn't it." He let out a laugh. "We have to walk to get there. It's any easy path, just a mile or so through the woods."

I looked over at him. "You can't be serious? I can barely walk on flat surfaces, there's mud, sticks, rocks and about a thousand other things that someone who is accident prone should not be around."

"You will be fine." He nodded, and then got out of the car, walking around to my side to help me out. When he opened the door, I got out hesitantly. I had at least been smart enough to put sneakers on this morning, but that wouldn't help my balance problems one bit. "Trust me nothing will happen to you, just follow me and you will be fine. It will be worth it, I promise."

I nodded slowly. "Okay, but if I fall and break something, I will tell your father that it was all your fault and that I warned you."

He let out a laugh. "If that happened to you, I would personally tell my father because I would feel horrible." He started walking and I followed. Here goes nothing.

The walk was actually peaceful, you could smell the fresh air of the woods and the sounds of animals were calming. The beginning of the path was easy, there were a few sticks that I would have to walk over and it wasn't too muddy out. Then we started the trek up hill, which became more and more challenging. It was going fine until I slipped and started going down. I closed my eyes getting ready for impact, then I stopped moving and there was surprisingly no pain.

"Am I dead?" I asked while keeping my eyes closed.

"You will be if you shut your eyes every time you fall." He said, while setting me up right, his hands were on my shoulders. I opened my eyes, seeing the crooked smile. "I told you that I wouldn't let anything happen to you."

"Thanks." I smiled. "Sorry that I am a slow walker, you would probably get to this place faster if I wasn't dragging behind."

"Don't get down on yourself, you are doing way better than I was expecting." He smiled, taking his hands off of me. "We are almost there."

We kept walking, it was easier this time now that I knew to keep an eye out on my surroundings. I guess when you know what is in front of you, it makes it easier to not trip. The path began to get flat again, and then there was nothing but open grassy field. The sun was shining down on the glistening grass, it was beautiful.

"Do you like it?" He asked with a smile.

"Yeah, I didn't even know this existed." I nodded while looking around, you could actually feel the warmth from the sun. "How did you find this place?"

"After I decided to turn my life around, meaning no more fighting and being a total dick to everyone around me, I went for a walk and just happened to come across a small meadow in the middle of the woods. It's actually kind of cool." He nodded, looking at me with a slight smile.

"It's very cool." I smiled back. "But why were you randomly walking around the woods by yourself, isn't that dangerous?"

"Maybe for a clumsy person-" He smirked and I rolled my eyes. "Walking helped me release my anger, it gave me a chance to be by myself and think about all the shit I did."

"That makes sense." I nodded. "It's really calming out here, I can understand why it's your favorite."

"I guess this means I have to share it now." He smiled.

"Definitely." I laid down on the ground, the grass was warm beneath me. "I am now claiming this half mine."

"Girls are always taking things away from guys." He laughed, laying down about a foot away from where I was. I looked over at him and the sun was glistening on his skin, he looked even better than usual. The Cullen family must feed off of other people's beauty, because they just all kept getting more attractive.

I shut my eyes, soaking up the sun, which was rare in Forks. This quiet was different from that in the car, this was the quiet that I liked, not awkward at all—just right. Everything felt better here, you can forget all of your problems, and trust me I would do basically anything to forget mine.

"I think we have an ongoing game of Truth to get back to." Edward said and I looked at him.

"You would ruin this nice moment for a stupid question?" I wrinkled my nose, I was just mad because it wasn't my turn.

"Does that mean you are going to pass?" He smirked.

"Never..." I sighed. "Hit me with it Cullen."

He was silent for a second, thinking of what to ask and then he looked over at me. "What is your biggest fear?"

"Dancing."

"That isn't a real answer." He pointed out. "You can't be afraid of dancing."

"You haven't seen me dance before, Freddy Krueger would be freaked out by it." I nodded.

"That might be true." He let out a laugh. "But I was looking for something a little more personal."

It was silent again. It's true, I could be a lot more honest. He had taken me to his favorite place, I could at least answer honestly. "Being vulnerable."

"What?" He said while covering his face from the sun so he could get a better look at me.

"That is my biggest fear, being vulnerable." I sighed. "That probably sounds really dumb."

"No, I get it, it's hard to let your guard down sometimes." He nodded. "Because if you do, then there is that chance you can get hurt."

"Exactly." I smiled. "It is just easier to act like everything is alright..."

"Acting tough isn't always the best thing you can do, everything builds up inside until you can't handle it anymore." He looked at me sympathetically.

We were both lying on the ground looking at each other. This made me realize how close we were to one another. This was one of those moments where my body couldn't pick just one emotion, I just felt tingly and warm. "Okay." I said quickly "It's my turn."

"Yeah..." He blinked, obviously feeling whatever I just had.

"You hang out with Rosalie and Emmett and Jasper and Alice, who are all dating and you are still single. Why aren't you dating anyone?" He looked over at me and laughed. "What? It's a good question."

"No, it is." He let out another laugh. "But you act like it's easy to just find somebody."

"I'm just trying to ask you why you're still single." I rolled my eyes.

"I guess I just haven't found the right person, if you haven't noticed the girls aren't really flocking around me at school. Alice says they are intimidated, which I don't get."

"How could someone ever be scared to approach a guy who always has a hood on his head and a blank expression on his face?" I said sarcastically.

"You did." He looked at me.

"Yeah but, I'm just really awesome." I smirked and he rolled his eyes, laughing. "I have a follow up question."

"That isn't allowed." He pointed out.

"I have been playing this longer than you have, I have many sleepovers worth of experience." I explained.

"Fine." He sighed.

"What is the definition of the 'right' person for you?"

He thought about it for a moment, taking in a deep breath and releasing it, then said, "Someone who isn't perfect, I like a girl who has flaws, it makes them more interesting."

"What do you mean by flaws, like a lazy eye?" I joked.

"No." He laughed. "Flaws in the sense that they have issues, someone who acts overly put together is boring, and I'm not big on the appearances, it's more about the personality."

"The waitress at the restaurant would fall in love with you if she heard that." I nodded.

"Why is that?"

"You have the whole mysterious, brooding, bad boy thing going on for you and the fact you look at personality makes you sound even more attainable."

"A brooding bad boy..." He laughed. "Is that how you see me?"

"No, well maybe before I actually started talking to you." I looked at him. "You are still somewhat of a mystery to me though."

"How so?" He looked back at me.

"You are extremely hard to read, even when I look at your face it's just—blank. Usually I can get some kind of emotion from looking at somebody, but not you."

"That's the same way I feel about you. You never do what I expect you to do, and you never give me any kind of sign on what you're thinking. It's actually been really frustrating trying to understand you."

"I guess we have that in common then." I smiled.

"Yeah, but I haven't given up on learning more about you." He gave me that crooked smile. If it had been anybody but Edward I would have tried to kiss him at this moment. We were just friends though and that would have made things awkward for us.

The moment was ruined by the rain beginning to fall. It wasn't just any rain either, it was absolutely pouring down hard. The sun was gone from the perfect little meadow and it was just dark. Edward got up quickly, "Shit." He muttered and then put out his hand to help me up, I took it and he lifted me off the ground easily. We were very close to each other. "We should start walking now before it gets too slippery."

I let out a sigh. "I am going to slip on the mud and then roll down the hill, I can see it now."

He smiled, the rain dripped down his face and fell onto mine. Again, we were extremely close to one another. "Just stay close to me and you will be safe." And for the first time in months, I knew that I actually was safe.

I nodded and we started to walk, which was definitely difficult. The rain would get into my eyes, blocking my vision and making it a lot easier to fall on my ass. I stumbled a few times on the flat path. We got to the steeper parts of the woods and nerves flooded through me.

"I can't do this." I yelled that way he could hear me over the rain. He put his hand out in front of me. "What?" I asked.

"Take it, I'll help you." He said moving it closer, I took it and he wrapped his fingers around my hand tightly. We started walking slowly down the path, every time I would slip he was there to steady me again. Every now and then he would tell me that I was doing a good job.

He kept holding my hand even as the path got flat, a big part of me was happy about this. He was obviously being a good friend and making sure I was fine. I was hit with sadness when I could finally see the car, our day together would be coming to a close.

"You did it." He said letting go of my hand, it fell to my side.

"Thanks to you." I smiled. He smiled back and we were doing that staring thing again. A shiver ran through me, it was cold out but I had a feeling that it had nothing to do with the weather.

"We should get going before you end up with pneumonia." He said, opening the passenger door for me. I got in, my wet clothes squeaked against the leather seats, so did Edwards when he got in. He started the car, blasting the heat up, which I was grateful for. He pulled out and headed back towards my house. We were quiet for a few minutes.

"Thank you for today, it was fun." I said, smiling.

"No problem, I had a good time too, although you probably didn't notice with my constant brooding." He smirked.

I let out a laugh. "It's not a bad thing to brood."

"All the cool kids are doing it." He joked.

"Because you are definitely one to follow the 'in' crowd." I said sarcastically.

"It's my goal in life to be cool."

"Then I would start talking to someone other than me." I pointed out. "No one at school actually likes me anymore."

"I do." He nodded, looking straight ahead. I had to turn to look out the window, for some reason this made me blush and I didn't want him to see that. "So…you excited to go back to school tomorrow?"

"I don't want tomorrow to come, it's a day closer to Friday, which I definitely don't want to come." I groaned.

"People usually get happy over Friday, it means the weekend is here."

I let out a sigh. "It also means my birthday is here."

He looked at me, "I didn't know your birthday was on Friday."

"I try to tell as few people as possible, I absolutely hate the day. I've never understood why people make such a big deal over living another 365 days."

"Pessimist." He laughed.

"Only on the subject of dancing, birthdays, and gossip." I pointed out. We pulled up in front of my house, thankfully neither of my parents were home yet. Although, I don't think my mom would be upset over me hanging out with a guy, especially one as attractive as Edward—but that's in a friendly compliment kind of way.

"What kind of present will I be getting you?" He asked, putting the car in park.

"Don't!" I glared at him. "I hate getting presents."

"What kind of girl are you?" He laughed. "First you don't take long to get ready, you don't like shopping, and now you don't like presents. Again this goes along with the whole hard to read thing."

"I'm the best kind of girl." I joked.

"You're right—inexpensive, low maintenance, and gorgeous." He smiled and I bit my lip.

"I should go before my parents get home." I said quietly, a flash of what looked like disappointment appeared on his face, but then went away.

"Then I guess I'll see you tomorrow." He kept his eyes on the steering wheel.

"Yeah." I said looking at him one last time, and stepping out of the car. "Thanks again for today."

"No problem, almost birthday girl." He smirked at me and I glared at him. "Sorry, I had to."

"Sleep with one eye open." I joked, walking away towards my house. Edward honked twice before pulling away. I walked into my house and the rest of my night was a blur, all I could think about was him and that damn crooked smile. I had to finally admit it to myself...

I had feelings for Edward Cullen. Damn.


	10. Chapter 10

**Sorry, sorry, sorry. I haven't updated in forever. I have had the busiest week and it's not getting any easier. This chapter isn't my best, but I wanted to give you guys something. Don't hate me. Oh and there are comments on my spelling, especially with 'starring' I know it's wrong, I just overlooked it when I was spell checking and am too lazy to go back and fix. ****Thank you for the reviews, they make me want to keep writing for all of you. I will say that there will probably be a couple more chapters left of this story, maybe six or seven.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight, that is SMeyer**

*** * ***

Because of Truth I have learned that Edward wanted to be a doctor just like his father. His biggest fear is of birds, which I of course laughed at because when do you ever see a bird taking the lives of other people. His favorite things include reading books, his family and listening to music, which consists of music from the 60s and 70s era—Van Morrison especially. He got arrested last year for breaking into a house with his friends, but he insisted that it was not his idea and that he regrets it a lot.

Then there were things that I learned from just being around him. He hated compliments, they made him squirm, so I would say nice things to deliberately make him blush. I found it very amusing. He was a good listener, always giving you a look like you are the most important person in the world. He thought picking on me was very entertaining and making me blush was the funniest thing in the world. When he was nervous or stressed, you could always find a hand running through his hair.

I used to think that I have had friends, even a best friend, but I quickly realized that Edward was as true as they got. Jessica used to be somebody I thought was always there for me, I now know that our friendship was completely one-sided. I would do things for her and listen to all of her problems, but she never really knew who I was. I could talk to Edward about almost anything and it never seemed like enough, which is strange because I've only known him for a few weeks.

When I finally admitted to myself that I liked him, there was nothing more that I could do. The feeling wasn't mutual. I was just his friend and that was all it would ever be. He was too good for somebody like me, he was perfect. I had too many problems, things that I couldn't even talk to him about. It is just too complicated.

But I couldn't worry about all of this. It was officially the worst day of the year or at least my year—my birthday. It might as well be Friday the thirteenth, nothing good will come out of today.

When I woke up I put a black pair of skinny jeans and a black shirt on, might as well dress for my mood. I walked downstairs knowing very well that my parents would be up and doing something really cheesy, like sticking a candle in a muffin. I walked into the kitchen seeing a stack of pancakes with a candle in it, I should get points for being close.

"Surprise!" My mom yelled excitedly and ran over to give me a hug. "Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birth—"

"Stop." I said angrily. "No singing, no candles, no presents, and no mention of my birthday. I made these rules years ago for a reason."

"Age has made you cranky." My dad said, sitting at the table and drinking his coffee. He blew out the candle knowing that I would not be doing it.

"I am not cranky." I sighed, sitting down. I took the candle out and put it down, then started eating my breakfast. I couldn't help it, the pancakes looked really good and I didn't want to make my mom sad.

"So where do you want to go to dinner?" He asked.

"McDonalds." I smirked.

"I'm putting my foot down on that one." Mom said, sitting down next to me. "It has to be a place where they actually have a waiter and a clean bathroom, you could at least do that for me." She sighed.

"I told you the other night that it doesn't matter where we go, just pick somewhere and I'll be there." I said, wishing that this conversation was done and over with.

"Fine, I'll think of something and let you know." She said and then was quiet for a moment. "Do you want to maybe bring somebody along?"

"No, why would I?" I asked.

"I don't know it could be more fun for you. Maybe Jessica or that boy you have been seeing…" She smiled and I rolled my eyes, now I see where she was going with this. I hang out with a guy a few times and she's already planning a meet the parents night. Not going to happen ever.

"What boy?" My dad said looking less than pleased.

"It's nobody, there is no boy. Can we talk about something other than this please?" I begged.

"It isn't that Cullen boy is it?" He asked upset. I stayed quiet hoping that he would just drop it. "You are dating him? I can't believe this Isabella—he is bad news, very bad news."

"We aren't dating." I groaned. "Dad he is my friend, that is all and you might think that he has a bad reputation but he has been a really good friend to me, okay, so leave it alone." He wanted to say something but looked away and mumbled that he had to go to work now. I jumped when the front door slammed, I could hear his car pull out of the driveway a moment later. Damn.

"He will be okay with the two of you together." She said, taking my plate and washing it. "I will talk to him."

"Mom, I am not dating Edward." I said, standing up and grabbing my bag. "Look tonight will just be the three of us, I repeat the three of us. Now I'm going to school and I don't want to hear anything more about Edward or anyone else."

"Alright." She said with a sad smile.

"Thank you for the breakfast." I smiled slightly and walked out of the house and into my car. Today would be a long day, but I was excited to talk with Edward at lunch. It was the best part of my day. He better not do anything for my birthday or I would have to kill him and tell the school about his fear of pigeons.

There was one good thing about the day, the sun was actually out. At least that was something to be happy about. The drive to school was calming, I could look forward to it being Friday. I didn't particularly like the weekends, having almost no friends can leave a person bored, but I would enjoy the extra sleep.

Classes were boring all day, nothing exciting happened in particular. Mike Newton was his normal douche bag self, talking about how Edward and I were a new item. Instead of Beauty and the Beast we were Slutty and the Felon. I felt bad because Alice was in the class and looked uncomfortable and pissed. When the class finally ended, I booked it out of there.

"Just the girl I wanted to see!" Alice said as we walked out of Spanish. I hadn't talked to her since after the whole awkward movie night. "I wanted to start off by saying that I am so sorry about the other night, I am never rude like that and I don't like talking about people behind their backs. We are all completely horrified that you heard us being asses."

"It's fine." I said shaking my head.

"No it's not, we were being jerks." She stepped in front of me, forcing me to stop walking. "Look we are just all really protective of each other, none of us want to see the others get hurt so we were stupid and believed the rumors and used them against you. We aren't like that ever."

"It's understandable, rumors can be very convincing sometimes." I nodded.

"Yeah, but convincing doesn't mean that it's true." She said with a sad smile. "Please forgive us, we have never seen Edward this happy in a long time, he has been through a lot and he deserves a friend like you. Jasper, Rosalie, Emmett and I are wrong and we admit that now, please forgive us."

"Sure." I nodded with a slight smile. I knew that they probably wouldn't trust me until they knew the truth, but I could be civil if they wanted to be.

"Great!" She said giving me a hug. "That wasn't all that I wanted to talk to you about."

"Should I be nervous?" I asked.

She let out a laugh. "I was just wondering if you wanted to come over for a little while after school to help me pick out an outfit for the party I'm going to tonight. Usually I have Rose give me the advice, but her and Emmett are going to Port Angeles."

"I'm really not great at clothes, I don't know anything." I said

"I would just need you to give your opinion, please I really want you to come over." She pouted. "Plus, I like hanging out with you."

I let out a sigh and smiled slightly "Okay…"

"Yes!" She squealed. "Meet me in the parking lot, we can take your truck there?"

"Sure." I nodded. "I should get to class though."

"Oh crap, me too." She walked off while saying bye very loudly with a smile on her face. Now not only was it my birthday, I had to spend it looking at clothes.

The rest of my day was easy, I haven't gotten homework in any classes making it a lucky day. For a birthday it wasn't the worst day—meaning something bad would happen in the future, it had to. Finally lunch had arrived, my favorite time of the day because I got to see Edward. He was sitting at the table with his ipod, I didn't see anything with a bow on it, thank god. It was safe. I walked over and sat down in my usual seat, he looked at me and smiled, taking his earphones out. "Hello birthd—"

"Finish that and I will throw a chair at you." I smiled innocently.

"I see age hasn't made you sweeter." He let out a laugh. "Most people would be excited about turning eighteen, you are finally an adult."

"Well this adult wants you to shut your trap." I smirked.

"Fine, subject change then..." He laughed. "I believe it is my turn to ask the next question."

"So—back to my birthday." I said, trying to change the subject.

"What is the grossest thing that has ever happened to you?" He asked with a smirk.

"Is that really necessary?" I asked.

"Definitely."

I let out a groan. "Alright. In the third grade, there was this flu going around, but I wasn't nervous because I never get sick, my mom says my immune system is like amazing. I like to think it's the whole apple a day keeps the doctor away thing, although I break things a lot, so I have to go to the doctors anyways."

"Is this going somewhere relevant?" He raised an eyebrow.

"Yes." I glared. "Angela Weber sat next to me in class and the teacher gave us all these little candy things, it was around Christmas time, anyways she ate hers and was feeling a little sicker. I guess she didn't like what she ate because she threw up all over my desk and on my lap."

"That is disgusting." He squished his face up.

"Exactly and to make matters worse the next day I woke up and was sick and it lasted through Christmas. I was pretty upset."

"I would have been too, Christmas is my favorite time of the year, and I would hate to be sick." Learned something new again. Who would have pictured Edward as a jolly holiday guy, not me for sure.

"I'm not a big fan of the actual day, remember I dislike presents a lot, but everyone is in a good mood around then, it's fun." I nodded.

"I wouldn't expect someone who hates their own birthday to actually be cheerful over a holiday, there's a soul somewhere inside you and I think we found it." He smirked.

"I was serious about the whole chair throwing thing." I sighed.

We talked for the rest of lunch about everything we could, it was amazing how fast the time went by. I could talk to him for an eternity and it wouldn't ever be enough. When the bell rang we made our way to our next class, getting stares from the people in the hallway. I was used to it, Edward and I never discussed the rumors that had been floating around about us.

Biology was boring, Mr. Banner went on and on about things that I don't remember. I was too busy thinking about hanging out with Alice after school, I hope it wouldn't be awkward. Then when the class was over, Edward walked me to gym and we said goodbye. He still tried to tell me Happy Birthday but I just covered my ears like a small child.

After school was over, I walked to my truck and waited for Alice. After ten minutes she finally came running out with a giant smile on her face. We drove in silence, well I was silent, she just went on and on about absolutely everything. I remembered how to get to their house from when Edward drove us the other night. This time hopefully wouldn't end like the last.

We drove down the long dirt road leading to the Cullen house, the last time I was there it was after the uncomfortable movie night. I liked Alice though, she was actually nice, other than when she was defending the others when they were talking crap about me.

"You can just park right here." She said with a smile. "I'm so excited for this, I needed a girl's opinion badly."

I put the car in park and shut the car off. "I already told you I am really bad at picking out what clothes look good with what, but I'll try."

"It will be fun." She said, getting out of the car. I opened my door and followed her, I could see the silver Volvo parked in the garage, making my heart skip. "Don't worry Edward won't be bugging our girl time."

"Does he know that I'm here?" I asked.

"No, but he won't care." She said. We both walked up the stairs leading to the front door, she opened it and we walked in. I felt nervous for some reason, nothing good happened the last time I was here. "Come on, my rooms upstairs." She said and we walked up another set of stairs, I could get some exercise living here.

When we finally got to her room I couldn't help but notice how huge it was in comparison to my room or even my house. I've always wanted a big room, with a huge bed, and balcony. The day I go to look for my first house, I will make sure that there is a balcony or else I won't get it.

"Okay, so I have thirteen outfits to show you. Let me go change into outfit number one." She smiled, walking to her closet. My mouth hung open in shock. I don't think I even own enough clothes to make thirteen different outfits.

That is how my afternoon went, seeing outfit after outfit. I had to rank each on a scale of one to ten, ten being the best. So far option nine was my favorite, it was a pair of jeans, a cute polka dot top, and heels. It ranked a ten on my list.

It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, spending time with Alice. She was a lot of fun actually. We talked about movies, books, music, and our celebrity crush—Ryan Gosling. It was nothing like it used to be hanging out with Jessica or Lauren, it was nice and I never felt uncomfortable. We were on outfit eleven when we both got a little surprise.

"Hey Alice where is that blue shirt that Jasper borrowed?" Edward said, walking into the room—shirtless. He didn't notice me on the bed yet, I was glad because I was probably a million shades of red. I couldn't help but stare at Edward. I thought he was good looking fully clothed, well I had no idea.

"In my closet, hold on." Alice said, walking away.

He then looked around the room, his eyes landing on me and he jumped slightly. "Holy shit, where did you come from?" He asked surprised, I let out a laugh at his expression.

"My mom, exactly eighteen years ago today..." I smirked.

"I meant why are you here?" He laughed, apparently he wasn't uncomfortable about being almost naked around me.

"Alice asked me to help her pick out an outfit for her, it's extremely important business." I nodded.

"I see. You're spending your birthday doing what you hate most, looking at clothes? Interesting." He smiled.

"Well I already hate my birthday so I thought I would just do everything that I dislike at once." I smiled back.

"Does that mean you will be dancing later and could you tell me when, I would love the chance to get to see these deadly moves you talk about frequently." He winked. "I need to see you later anyways, to give you your present."

"First of all there will be no dancing, ever." I glared. "And second there will be no presents ever, if there is I will be forced to kill you."

"But—"

"No buts, unless we are discussing George Clooney's because he is a hottie." I smirked.

He let out a laugh. "As much as I would love to talk about that, I think I'll refrain from the topic."

"Too bad." I pouted.

"There will be no presents, promise—I do however want to see you tonight." He said, my heart was doing cartwheels at this point.

"Well then she should come to the party tonight." Alice said, walking in with the shirt in her hand. She handed it to him and smiled at me. "Our parents are at some business thing for the weekend, so it is party time!"

"I don't think Bella would want to." Edward said, obviously this was said because of my past experiences with parties in town.

"Oh, right." Alice said biting her lip. "Never mind."

"I'll go." I said nodding, they were both surprised by this. "Just keep Jasper close to you Alice." I tried to make a joke to make this less weird. Edward and Alice exchanged glances. "I was kidding."

She let out a laugh. "I know. I'm excited though, you should come it will be a lot of fun. I'm gonna put on outfit twelve." She said and walked into her closet, shutting the door.

"The joke went over a lot better in my head." I nodded, and then looked at him.

"That happens with all your jokes." He smirked and I threw a pillow at him from Alice's bed and he threw it back. "Don't mess with me Swan." He laughed.

"If you be mean than I won't talk to you at the party." I smirked.

He sat down next to me on the bed, the last time we were on a bed together was in my dream last night—but the circumstances were a lot different than they are right now. "You don't have to go tonight." He said with a sigh.

"I know." I nodded. "It will be fine." He looked at me like he didn't believe me. "I swear and I'll be with you, so it will be okay." He gave me a crooked smile, I was almost sure that he wanted to say something but didn't.

Alice came out with outfit number—I don't even remember. It was a purple dress with black leggings, "It's a seven." I said with a nod.

"Yeah, not one of my favorites." She sighed and then looked at Edward. "You do realize that you're still shirtless."

He looked down and turned bright red. "Shit…" He said getting up and hurrying out. "I'll pick you up at nine." He shouted behind him.

Alice and I exchanged looks and then both fell on the bed laughing hysterically. We had gone through the outfits and decided on outfit nine. She insisted on picking out what I would wear, and then said she would do my hair but I put my foot down on both of those. If I was going to this party that I didn't want to, I did not need to be tortured with a make over.

*** * ***

Dinner with my parents went how it did every other year since my twelfth birthday. We would go to the same restaurant, order the exact same things that we usually did, and it always ended with me refusing their present until I ended up taking it anyways.

"Bella you don't even know what it is." My mom said, pushing the envelope with the big red bow towards me.

"It's money, like always." I sighed.

"It might not be, you don't know that for sure." She smiled

"Nothing else could possibly fit in that envelope, let's face it you're giving me money that I don't need, you should just keep it."

"Please?" She pouted like a little kid.

I groaned, "No."

"Just take it Bells." My dad sighed. "We do this every year, you fight and then eventually take it and thank us, lets just get straight to that and avoid all the crap in between."

I grabbed the envelope and looked inside, three hundred dollars, money that I didn't need. "Thank you." I said, not wanting to hurt my mom's feelings.

"You are welcome." She smiled.

We got our desserts, the same ones we got last year and the year before that, we were not adventurous people. Thank god my mom didn't make them sing happy birthday to me, like three years ago. I almost jabbed my mom with the fork that year.

"Have any plans for tonight?" She asked as we were walking to the car. "You don't want to sit at home with us old folks all night."

"Actually my friend Alice invited me over, if that's okay with you two?" I asked.

"Of course! Have fun, do you need us to drop you off there?" She asked me from the front seat, it was easier for all of us to ride in the same car. I was used to driving myself though.

"No…" I decided to lie not wanting to bring up Edward's name. "She's picking me up at nine."

When we got home, I changed into a pair of skinny jeans and cute blue top that I got over the summer. I wanted to look decent, not that I was trying to impress anyone, especially not Edward—we were just friends. I made sure that when he showed up, that I walked outside right away. I did not need my dad seeing Edward standing there instead of Alice. He was holding the door for me as I got to the car. "Hey, you look nice." He said with a smile.

"You don't look too bad yourself." I winked, getting into the car. He shut the door, walking over to his side and getting in and starting the car. We pulled out and made our way to his house.

"Are you sure you want to go? We can always do something else." He said glancing over at me.

"I'm not sure, but it will be okay." I nodded.

"Probably not, there are some people going tonight that aren't really your friends—like Jessica Stanley." He sighed.

"Just because she's there doesn't mean that I am obligated to talk to her, plus it's your house, you can always kick her out if she gets bitchy." I smiled at him.

"This is true." He nodded and put his hand on top of my mine, sending a shiver through my body. "I'll be there for you."

"I'm counting on it." I smiled at him and bit my lip.

*** * ***

**Sorry for the cliffy, but I am extremely busy and barely have time to write! Plus the Celtics game is on and that steals my attention.** **If you have time you should go read my other story, 'I Was Broken'.**


	11. Chapter 11

**Sorry I suck at updating, I'm really having trouble writing this story for some reason. I'm really not into it anymore or maybe just at the moment. I don't know, I blame stress and writers block. Anyways, here is a new chappy for you all. You should all go check out 'I Was Broken', which is my other story at the moment :).**

**Thank you for all of the reviews, I get excited when I check my email and there are a bunch of new alerts. It makes my day, which is pathetic but I don't care.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or the characters, etc.**

*** * ***

For some reason I always go against my gut feeling, the one that tells you that something is a bad idea even if your brain isn't saying that. I just tell myself that everything will be fine in the end. I am an idiot. Next time I will skip what my head says and go straight to the pit of my stomach—if I had done this in the first place I wouldn't be laying on Edward's bed with a black eye right now.

I've had many day dreams about getting to see Edward's room, it's the only way to truly figure out a person, but the circumstances I had in mind were different. Even though I was in pain I couldn't help but look around the room. He had a huge collection of CDs and books, there was an urge to go and inspect but I fought it.

"You okay?" Edward said walking into the room, holding out an ice pack for me, I took it gratefully and placed it on my eye. The cold made me squirm slightly, but overall it felt good. Anything would be better if it took the swelling down. I still would have to come up with a good explanation for my parents other than I walked into a door, although I think they would believe it.

"Just peachy…" I let out a groan. My heart skipped when he laid down next to me, on my good side so that I could actually see him. His hair was in a million different directions due to his constant grabbing at it, meaning he was as stressed as I was at the moment.

"I don't want to sound smug—well maybe a little, but I would like to throw out an I told you so." He smirked at me.

I rolled my good eye and hit him lightly. "I know, I know. I will never not listen to you again." It's true, usually I am stubborn and do what I want to when I want to, but he was right.

"I should get that put into a contract or at least maybe on the front of a nice t-shirt." He let out a laugh and then looked at me sadly. "I am sorry though, really."

"Me too." I smiled slightly. "It isn't your fault, it's mine for being such a hated person."

"Only to stupid sluts like Jessica, who don't matter to anyone but themselves." He pointed out, it was correct but it still sucked nonetheless. "Plus, I don't hate you."

"Thanks." I smiled at him. We were quiet for a few minutes, it was actually nice, and it gave me a chance to collect my thoughts—until those thoughts went to what had happened earlier in the night. I attempted to suppress them, they eventually had to be dealt with though, even if I was really good at ignoring the problems in my life.

The party was actually really fun at first, Edward and I made fun of all the drunk people since we chose to stay sober, alcohol wasn't my friend since the summer and it was a no for him after the whole Anger Management thing. I was even getting along with Alice, Jasper, Emmett and most shockingly Rosalie. Their constant apologizing for the other night was becoming a little annoying, but I liked that they were putting the effort in. I finally felt as if they might be on their ways to accept me into the small group that they have formed. I could tell Edward was happy about this, he had been in the weirdest mood tonight, he was just so happy and I was too.

Then Jessica showed up with—James.

This made me feel instantly nauseous, I had an idea that Jessica might show up but the fact that she brought _him_ made it even worse. Luckily they didn't see me, instead going straight to the other side of the room towards a group of other kids who hated me. I was still tense though, which didn't go unnoticed by Edward.

"Hey, you alright?" He said into my ear, I shivered feeling his breath on my neck. Earlier this would have made me night and possibly week, but I was still just feeling sick.

"Um, yeah." I gave him a fake smile trying to reassure him, I don't think he noticed the lie. "I'm gunna go get a drink though." I said, walking away quickly to the kitchen before he could say anything more.

Once I got there I breathed a deep sigh of relief. I didn't realize how claustrophobic I had been feeling in that room full of drunken teenagers. I groaned, this sucked so badly. I would never escape him no matter how hard I tried, he came at the worst possible moments. Going against my earlier promise to myself, I grabbed a cup and filled it with beer from the keg. I took a giant gulp, wishing that the effects would take over and I would be worry free.

"Hey beautiful." I heard from behind, not needing to look—I already knew who it was. When I said earlier that my day was going to good to be true, this is the bad thing that was bound to happen. I was mentally kicking myself for being this vulnerable, I shouldn't be in the kitchen alone. He wouldn't have said anything if Edward was with me.

I turned hesitantly looking at him, "Hi." I said quietly.

"It has been a little while since I've seen you, didn't think you were into the party scene anymore." He smirked, grabbing a cup and filling it. "What brings someone like you to a Cullen party, friends with that hot spiky haired girl? Alex or whatever."

"Alice." I corrected him. "Yeah she's my friend, but I'm actually closer to Edward." I nodded.

"Didn't know you were into the bad boys, it's kind of a turn on actually." He winked, putting his hand on my shoulder. I stood there frozen, not knowing what to do. I had images of this moment happening, except in them I usually kicked him in the balls and told him to fuck off. I of course didn't have the ability to do this in reality.

"I, um, he is just my friend." I stuttered nervously.

"Friends with benefits?" He grinned.

"No." I shook my head, praying he would just take his hand off me and go find Jessica or some other slut. I didn't know how long I could go without breathing properly.

"That's too bad. He is missing out big time, you were amazingly hot that night. I think about how good you were all the time." He bit his lip, looking down at me like I was more food than human. Thank god I have had time to digest my food because it would be all over the floor at this moment.

"I, um-"

"What the fuck is going on?!" Someone yelled from the door of the kitchen, I could tell it was Jessica by the familiar screechy voice. I looked and found that I was right, Lauren was behind her with a smile on her face. This isn't good. Nightmares really do come true, tomorrow it would probably be the boogeyman.

"Baby, we were just talking." James said, going over to her and trying to pull her into a hug. She pushed him away and walked up to me, slapping me across the face, which made a loud painful sound. People began to enter the kitchen.

"Who the hell do you think you are?" She screamed at me. I started to turn red from all of the attention that I was now receiving. It was my own fault. I couldn't say anything, I was just standing there embarrassed. "Open your mouth you bitch, you usually have it wide open to fit all those dicks that you suck. Dirty fucking slut!" This got a big cheer from the crowd.

"I'm sorry." I mumbled out defeated. Edward was right when saying that I couldn't defend myself, I was just too weak.

"You better be fucking sorry you whore!" She pushed me into the marble counter, I hit my hip and it throbbed in pain. She then turned to the crowd of people, I could see Edward standing there giving me a sympathetic look. "Everyone take a good look at this stupid bitch, her whoreness strikes once again."

Everyone laughed, I could see Mike Newton in the front hunched over cracking up. Great, I would be hearing about this on Monday morning. Rosalie, Jasper, Alice, and Emmett came in, standing next to Edward. This would really help them get to like me, if they even wanted to speak to me after this. I didn't even want to speak to me after this, I was pathetic.

Jessica then turned to look at me again, she was still obviously pissed, judging by the death glares. I felt like it was me against the world, or maybe just the entire teenage population of Forks, which is even worse. Somebody, Newton, behind her chanted 'punch her, punch her!'. Yeah, I was definitely by myself.

Before I knew it her fist came up and crashed right into my left eye. The crowd of idiots cheered, while I held my eye in pain. Stand up to her you moron. I thought that it would just go downhill from that point on, but then I heard an unexpected voice. "Get the fuck away from her you dirty skank!"

I couldn't help but want to throw my arms around Rosalie at that very moment. "I wouldn't even be talking about being slutty," Rose said, turning to the crowd. "There is no one in Forks who has spread her legs more than this chick, so I do not see how you can all be on her side in this."

"Shut up Hale, you and your blonde hair have nothing to do with this!" Jessica yelled, putting her hand on her hips.

"Nice comeback tramp." She laughed and looked at the crowd. "Bella did nothing wrong, alright, you immature assholes need to get that through your dense minds. Why the hell do you need to make her life difficult, it is fucking pointless, get over yourselves."

"If she's so fucking innocent why is it that I caught her screwing my boyfriend last year?" She glared and I turned even redder, I avoided eye contact with Edward. "Explain that Rosalie, since you seem to think she is perfect."

"Those are fucking rumors that you start just to get attention." Rosalie said, rolling her eyes.

"Oh really, ask James he will tell you the truth." She said and everyone turned to him, I hoped that he might actually be decent and do the right thing here.

"People have sex all the time, get over it." He said to Jessica and then winked at me, my heart instantly sank. There goes any thought I have of him being an actual human being. Also my dignity was pretty much a goner.

"See you bitch, know what is going on before you defend a slut." Jessica said to Rosalie. I wanted to crawl into a ball in the corner of the room, and just die. I should have just stayed home and listened to my mom serenade me all night with different renditions of Happy Birthday, it seemed like the best thing at the moment.

"Party is over, everyone get the fuck out." Emmett's loud voice boomed over the commotion. When no one moved he got louder, "I said now fuckers!"

It was like a scene right out of a movie, but instead of a stampede of animals it was of drunk teenagers. I kind of wished that I had brought a car, that way I could leave too. I didn't want to face Edward and all of them after that. Jessica gave me one more look and then walked out. Now it was just the six of us.

Rosalie just shook her head at me and walked out with Emmett, who gave me a sympathetic look. Alice looked as if she was about to say something, but Jasper whispered something into her ear and they walked out. I stood there looking at Edward, who had his head down not meeting my gaze. I didn't blame him.

"I, um…" I sighed not knowing what to say, he was the last person I wanted that to happen in front of.

He looked at me with sad eyes, staring into my equally sad ones. I couldn't read his expression. I didn't know if he was mad, or disgusted, or annoyed, or…I have no idea. He then smiled slightly. "I guess that puts a whole knew meaning on birthday punches."

"What?" I asked, that wasn't what I expected.

"On somebody's birthday, you are supposed to hit them by how old they are. Instead of eighteen, you just got one big one." He nodded, smirking.

I let out a laugh. "It was a good one." I said, placing a hand on my eye, and sighing at the pain. He walked over, placing a hand on my chin and lifted my face to meet his. My heart skipped, I almost completely forgot what had happened minutes ago, he had that effect on me. He just stared at me for a moment and then blinked as if he was coming out of a trance.

"Uh, we should get some ice on that, so the swelling won't be as bad." He said and with that I found myself lying on his bed with him next to me. I don't even know how to explain all of the emotions that I had felt within the past hour.

"This sucks." I groaned.

"Getting punched isn't really something that is supposed to bring joy." He said looking at me, our hands were close to each other. I fought back the urge to grab at it.

I let out a laugh. "I know, but it's not just that. The embarrassment of the situation was worse than a thousand punches."

"And you care what all of those people think why?" He asked.

"I don't care what they think." I shook my head.

"That is my Truth question and because of that I want the actual truth." He pointed out and I groaned, I forgot that it was his turn.

"I am being honest when I say that I don't care what they think about me." I said and he gave me an unsatisfied look. "What I am embarrassed about is that it happened in front of…you." I said, looking up at the ceiling to avoid eye contact.

He covered my hand with his, sending a shock through my body. "There is nothing to be embarrassed about, I don't believe what other people say about you." He said quietly.

I looked at him and our eyes were connected, I almost poured out my entire soul to him. "Maybe you should." I said sadly.

He looked at me with a blank expression for a few moments, and then nodded slowly. "It's getting late, I should probably bring you home." He got up, not looking at me. _Damn it_. So I nodded slowly and followed him.

Now not only did I have a horrible night, I had to go through the awkward silence that had fallen upon us in the car. It was inevitable, I basically just told him that I am the dirty slut that slept with somebody else's boyfriend, even if it wasn't entirely true. I couldn't tell him that, it was too hard for me. If I was going to make this better, I needed to do something before we were at my house. "Are you mad?" I asked.

He looked at me quickly then averted his eyes at the road. "No…" He shook his head with another unreadable expression.

"That's my truth question, did what I say make you mad?" I asked and he groaned, that's what he gets for asking his question earlier. This game actually came in handy.

"It didn't make me mad." He sighed. "I mean, I'm not mad at you—just somewhat surprised. I don't know."

"You have to give me more than that, I can handle it." I said, hoping that I really could take what he would say. His opinion of me was the only one that actually mattered.

"It doesn't matter to me if you did what everyone says, I know that I have done things a lot worse than that." He then ran a hand through his hair. "Not that I am judging what you did. It's just that from what I know about you so far, I didn't think that was something…" He sighed.

"That I would do." I finished that for him and he nodded slowly. "Yeah." I mumbled because honestly it isn't something that I would ever do, even when I'm drunk.

We pulled up in front of my house, the lights were off making me a little happier, it gave me more time to explain the bruise that would be on the side of my face. So far I had walked into a door, accidently getting elbowed by Emmett, and hitting myself in the face while playing Wii. All of which are reasonable when it is me we are talking about.

"Can I ask you another Truth question?" He said quietly. I looked at him and nodded, giving him a slight smile. "If you could do anything, what would you want to do?"

"I would want to have the ability to talk to people." I said.

"Because what we are doing right now is considered being silent?" He said sarcastically and I let out a laugh.

"I mean, I would want to be able to tell people what is really on my mind and not be so scared. I close myself off too much." I sighed, looking out the window and at my old truck sitting in the driveway.

"What people?" He asked.

"I don't know, just the people around me. My parents, definitely them. They think my life is perfect, even though I know you don't believe in the idea of perfection. I really am just a good liar." I shrugged. I feel like if I told my parents everything a huge relief would be lifted off of me, but there is the part of me that knows nothing good would come out of talking.

"I've known you for a few weeks now and I can honestly say that you are by far the worst liar that I have ever met, and that's saying a lot because Emmett is horrible too." He laughed and I tried to smile at this.

"I do suck at lying, but I sure as hell am good at hiding things." I nodded.

"From your parents?"

I nodded, if only I was one of those people who could spill their entire life out to random people and not have to think twice about it. "And you."

He thought about this for a moment and nodded slowly, thank god he used his truth already because I had a feeling I knew what would come next. "I didn't give you your gift yet." He said, obviously trying to change the subject.

"I said no gifts." I sighed. "I already got punched in the face, why are you trying to make this day even more miserable? Am I going to get hit by a bus while I'm sleeping?"

He let out a laugh. "If it makes you feel better, it's a really shitty gift." He said putting a CD case in front of me.

"…You shouldn't have?" I raised an eyebrow.

"It's a mix tape of songs I thought you would like." He pointed out with a smirk. "I know it's probably the worst and most thoughtless thing you can get a person, but then again any gift for you is probably awful."

"There is no Britney Spears or anything on this is there because that would suck, my ears couldn't take it." I glared at him.

"Never." He shook his head. "That kind of music doesn't even make it onto my computer, I would kill myself."

"Alright good." I nodded, smiling. No one has ever made me a CD before, I had always been curious to what Edward listens to and now I would get to hear some of the stuff. "Thank you."

"No problem." He smiled and I continued staring at him, my eyes slowly looking down at his lips and my body got warm. All I could hear was our breathing, it was heavy and I had a feeling Edward noticed this as well. When I looked back at his eyes there was so much intensity that I almost lost control. We were going to kiss, I could feel it.

He began to lean in, his lips just about to graze mine, and then the front lights turned on. He pulled away quickly, I looked towards the door and saw my dad. How embarrassing. "I, um…" I said, opening the doors.

"Yeah, you should go." He nodded with a slight sigh. I got out of the car, not forgetting to grab the CD, I would definitely be listening to that later. I was about to shut the door and I looked over to see him smiling. "Happy Birthday Bella, even if it did suck."

I smiled back, "It didn't suck entirely." I said and shut the door. It would have been an even better birthday if I got that kiss. Damn you dad!


	12. Chapter 12

**This took forever and I apologize :(, I wrote the chapter a few days ago and then my computer crashed. Plus it had been so long since I wrote anything that I forgot what had happened in the story since I'm a tool. I will most likely wrap this story up soon. This chapter isn't my best.**

**Check out my other stories if you have time. :)**

**Thank you for the reviews.**

*** * ***

I had almost kissed Edward Cullen, putting a large emphasis on the word almost. A part of me was still very much angry at my father for not letting me get that kiss that I have dreamt about, but there was also that underlying feeling of relief. I mean I liked Edward a lot, but my life was complicated though. Especially after what had happened at the party.

There were way more cons than pros. I would always be lying to him, I couldn't tell him what happened, he might be pissed at me for keeping it from him and never want to talk to me. The thought of him sitting in front of me while I poured out everything to him made me blush at just the idea.

Maybe I wouldn't even have to worry about it, at this very moment Rosalie and all of them were probably trying to convince him to never speak to me again. I had made an ass out of not only myself, but Rose and that made me feel even more nauseas. She stuck up for me in front basically our entire class and then she was let down by Jessica and James, who I hated more than I could possibly explain. The school just hated me even more now.

I couldn't even talk to my mom about this, it was hard because I used to be able to talk about anything with her. My dad was furious with me now too, since he saw Edward Cullen sitting in a car with his only daughter, and then when he saw my black eye he was just outraged. I told them that I accidentally hit myself in the face during an intense game of boxing on Wii with Alice. They didn't question it because I was usually getting hurt by the most random things.

Now I had to sit in my room all weekend, thinking about what would happen on Monday morning. People would be talking about me a lot more than they had, Jessica might confront me, and I might not even have Edward to back me up anymore. I should have just stayed home instead of going to the party, it was stupid to even consider the thought of me getting back into the whole being out in public scene. I was making Edward's life extremely difficult.

When I got to school on Monday and the stares started even before I parked my truck, I knew that it would be a bad day. My black eye wasn't as swollen as it had been the night before thanks to a nice cold bag of peas, but still somewhat noticeable. I was terrified that Jessica would try to approach me at the start of the day, I couldn't handle it.

I got out of the truck, feeling the eyes burning a hole into my body. I put the hood of my sweatshirt up and made my way into school, keeping my eyes on the ground. I found my locker fast and stayed until the bell rang, I was glad that I hadn't seen Edward in the hallway.

The rest of my day went by in a blur, I kept my eyes on the teachers the whole time and listened to no one. Mike Newton made a few comments, but I just did my best to ignore him and everybody else who had something to say. The words still hurt, I just chose to put up a shell around me.

When the bell rang at the end of Spanish, I grabbed my books and made my way out of the room before Alice could follow. It was lunch time, but I wasn't in the mood to rush there. It would be the first time seeing Edward since Friday night and I didn't want things to be different between us, even though I knew they would be.

I dashed into the girl's bathroom, relieved to find that no one was in there. I went into the stall, sitting down on the seat, which was probably the most disgusting thing that a person could do, but I was stressed out. I put my head between my knees, trying to calm myself down before lunch.

After a few minutes the door opened and I heard heels clicking towards the sink, some girl who was obviously checking her make-up. I used to be one of those girls, the kind that made sure that they look perfect 24/7. I didn't so much go for me, but for Jessica who is overly self-conscious. I decided to wait until she was gone, because sitting in the bathroom alone would make me even more of a freak.

The door opened again, this time with two loud girls who were talking animatedly, I sighed on the inside. I guess I might be spending lunch in here after all. "I can't believe she would do that!" One girl said.

"I know, who knew Angela Webber would be such a cry baby." The other girl said. I heard people earlier talking about Angela, but I kind of tuned them all out incase the subject changed to me. I felt bad that the school was saying things about her, she was always so nice to everyone.

"Just because the girl gets a little drunk and loses her virginity, doesn't mean that she can go and call the cops on him." The first girl said and my body stiffened. Maybe I should have been listening to conversations earlier.

"Yeah, like Jessica doesn't have enough to deal with, that stupid slut Swan already fucked her boyfriend and now this." I dug my fingers into my palm, trying not to cry.

I couldn't hear any movement coming from the girl who was at the sink, probably some freshmen who was looking for gossip to spread around to her little friends, great.

"Do you think James is guilty?" The girl asked as they were leaving, thank god.

"No, look at him, who would say no to that." She said and the door shut behind them.

I couldn't breathe, I needed to get out of there right now. I stood up and opened the stall, so what if the girl thought I was weird for staying in there. Instead of some mousy freshmen girl, I saw Rosalie standing there looking towards me with her mouth slightly parted open. I don't swear often, but…shit.

I looked down and walked out of there without saying anything, I walked quickly to the lunchroom and saw Edward looking around the room, when he spotted me he smiled. This made me feel a little bit better, but still sick. I walked over to the table slowly, taking a seat and trying to look casual.

"Hey, I thought you went home or something." He said and I couldn't help but feel calm looking into his eyes.

"No, just had to talk to my Spanish teacher really quick, which turned into her talking about something. I wasn't even paying attention." I lied, but he let out a small laugh showing me that he believed it.

"I'm glad that you didn't miss lunch, I am sort of used to not being alone anymore." He gave me a crooked smile and I blushed. "Your bruise looks a lot better."

"Yeah, frozen peas are a miracle worker, it was so swollen yesterday." I nodded.

"I bet, but you look really beautiful today." He said looking at me intensely, I had to bite my lip so that I wasn't smiling like a goof.

Then someone sat in the seat next to me, making both me and Edward jump, it was Rosalie followed by Emmett, Alice, and Jasper. My heart pounded in my chest, she was going to say something, in front of him. He would find out that I lied to him this entire time, they would all look at me with sad pity filled eyes.

"What are you guys doing here?" Edward asked, obviously confused.

"Can't friends sit with one another with it being weird?" Alice said, putting a chip into her mouth.

"I'm not sure." He raised an eyebrow, looking at everyone suspiciously. I looked down at the table not wanting to look at anyone incase Rose said something. Maybe she didn't even know anything…

"Well we thought it would be nice to sit together again, like the good old days." Rose said.

"Now I know something is up, you never sound this sweet." He said looking at her, she just shrugged and ate her food. Edward gave me a look but I just shrugged as well.

"Bella do you want to hang out after school?" She asked me and everyone's mouth hung open, even Emmett's, who had half a sandwich stuffed in there.

"Um, I-" I stuttered and Edward interrupted.

"Look Rose, I don't know what you are planning to do, but what ever it is needs to stop." Edward said a little angry, he probably thought that she was going to take me to some deserted area of town and leave me there for embarrassing her at the party.

"I just want to get to know Bella better, there is no mysterious plan in the works." She rolled her eyes, "I'll pick you up at your house right after school."

"Okay." I said quietly.

She wanted to ask me questions, things that I didn't even want to think about. I couldn't even make up a good enough lie because she already had some sort of idea about what was going on. Of all the people to know, it had to be Rosalie. I didn't even think that she had any feelings.

The rest of lunch I spent getting curious looks from Edward and I would just bite my lip and pretend as if I had no idea. How did it go from him calling me beautiful to having to spend the day getting interrogated by Rosalie Hale, my life was a giant rollercoaster, upside down twists and all.

When the bell rang Edward and I walked to class silently, I tried hard to ignore the stares that were being sent our way. The whispering was at an all time high and I was hating every minute of it. The ironic part was that they weren't even really about me or him, they were about Angela. I felt sick thinking about what had happened to her, but also proud that she could tell someone.

Biology consisted of a long uninteresting lecture on something, I didn't really pay attention, Edward would let me look over his notes at lunch tomorrow. I was too busy wondering about what would happen later with Rosalie. When class ended, I gathered my books and got up quickly.

"I'll walk you to gym." Edward said giving me a crooked smile, I just nodded and we made our way to the class I hated most. "Are you alright?" He asked suddenly and I tensed, but kept moving.

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?" I looked down at the ground.

"You just looked kind of upset when you first came into the cafeteria and then now Rose wants to hang out with you, which I still am concerned about…"

"I'm fine and Rosalie just wants to be friends, It will be okay." I said, trying to reassure him and myself.

"You can talk to me about anything, if you have a problem, I can listen." He nodded, looking at me with concern.

"I know and I tell you basically everything."

"Basically?" He raised his eyebrow up.

"There are just certain things that I just feel more comfortable keeping to myself, I do like talking to you though, a lot." I smiled at him.

We stopped outside of the girl's locker room doors, I was dreading going in, Jessica was in this class with me and her little cronies too. They would no doubt say something to me, well at least Lauren probably would, she always needed to have the last word. Plus, there is the whole being athletically challenged thing going against me.

"If you want me to try and get you out of hanging out with Rose, I can, I'll get Emmett to sweet talk her or something."

I let out a laugh, "He has no control over her."

He nodded with a laugh, "That is true, but I can still get you out of it."

"No, it will be okay." I nodded and then added. "Hopefully."

He gave me one of his amazing smiles and then his expression turned a little more serious, "Do you want to hang out later, after your little thing with Rose?"

"Sure." I nodded, biting my lip.

"Good. I'll pick you up at six." He smirked, "Have fun in gym."

I rolled my eyes, he knows the hate I have for the class. I walked into the girl's locker room and changed. Gym wasn't that bad today, Jess stayed away from me, she was obviously more pissed at Angela than me for the time being. I was happy to be off of her radar, but I hated that someone so nice was now on it.

I drove home slower than usual, knowing that Rosalie would be in my driveway waiting to go and talk. She obviously knew. When I pulled up she was sitting in her car, tapping her manicured nails on her steering wheel. I let out a sigh and walked over, getting in the passenger side. She just drove off, not saying a thing to me and taking deep breaths. This was making me nervous.

"Are you going to talk?" I asked.

"Yeah, just trying to process the thoughts." She said, shouldn't I be the one to do the hard thinking here?

"Take your time…" I sighed, looking out the window. I didn't exactly know where we were going, I was starting to think that there wasn't an exact destination.

After a few minutes, ten to be exact, she finally opened her mouth. "Does Edward know?"

"That we are hanging out, yes he knows." I said trying to be funny. She gave me a sympathetic look, Rosalie Hale was showing a little heart, I needed a camera. "No, he doesn't."

"But it's true?" She said quietly, "James raped you."

I bit my lip hard, hoping that no blood was drawn, she would probably kill me if I got it over her seats. Out of all the people to talk about this with I would have picked the creepy guy at the convenient store down the street before Rose. "Yes." That was the first time I admitted out loud.

She reached over and grabbed my hand, staring at the road ahead. That was the nicest gesture she has done for me or maybe anyone. Before I could stop them the tears that had been welling up started to fall and she squeezed my hand tighter.

We spent the next hour driving around aimlessly, her hand never leaving mine, and us never saying a word. I had said enough for the day and I still had to see Edward later, I didn't know if I could face him. I had no idea if Rose would go around telling everyone, that was all I needed, they would completely pity me. Ugh.

She pulled up in front of my house at 5:30, which gave me enough time to go fix my make-up before Edward came to get me. She put the car in park, I knew what was coming.

"You should tell him or someone about this, it's…" She shook her head, "Nobody deserves for that to happen, even stupid bitches like Jessica."

"I can't." I sighed.

"What do you mean you can't!" She yelled, I flinched a little, she wouldn't understand.

"Rosalie, please." I looked at her and she looked at me so sadly. "I have been dealing with this for months and I am okay."

"No you aren't." Now she was telling me how I felt? Ugh. Kill me. "When you walk down the hallways and people stare or talk you look so helpless. At the party when that scumbag looked at you, it was the most painful thing to watch, because you can see the defeated look in your eyes. Before I didn't understand your reactions, but it makes perfect sense now."

All this time I thought that I was doing such a great job at hiding my emotions, but apparently they were out in the open and even people like her could see. I suddenly got very paranoid, maybe my parents could see through the façade or even worse Edward.

"You can't ignore it forever, telling yourself that you are alright doesn't make it true. Building up all of this emotion will come back and bite you in the ass." She sighed, "I see the way that Edward looks at you, we all do, and he deserves to know."

"He's the last person that I want to tell." I croaked out.

"Understandable." She nodded. "But he should know."

"You won't tell him though?"

"I won't tell anybody." She was being genuinely nice. "Now go fix your face, you look like ass right now." There is the Rosalie I know.

I let out a laugh, "You are kind of a bitch."

"Every girl needs a token bitch in their lives, you should be lucky to have me around." She smirked.

"I am." I smiled.

"Okay get out, this is getting too Full House for me." She said, pushing my arm.

"I'm pretty sure Kimmy Gibbler was never sexually assaulted." I said, getting out of the car, she was trying to bite back a laugh. "Thank you."

She gave me a sweet smile, "Shut up."

I laughed, shutting the door and she drove away. I ran into my house quickly, running to my room and getting out the make-up. Once I covered up the mascara marks and redid my eyes, I looked pretty. I grabbed my purse and headed downstairs, he would be here any minute.

"You look nice, where are you going?" My mom asked with a smirk on her face.

"I was going to hang out with Edward."

She jumped up and down, squealing like a small child, I just rolled my eyes. She would never stop acting like a twelve year old. "I am so excited."

"We are just friends mom." I sighed.

"You are blushing." She winked.

"Stop it!" I felt like dying.

"I can't help myself, it is you and a boy!"

"I am so becoming a lesbian…" I rolled my eyes, she laughed and kissed my forehead.

"As long as you give me grandchildren."

"Good luck with that."

The headlights of a car pulled up in front of the house, I instantly got excited, today had been a long day. I hadn't really got my time alone with him at lunch, that was our chatting time. I hugged my mom, "Don't be looking out the window as I get in the car, you might scare him off."

"Would I ever do that?"

"Um, yes." I laughed, walking out the door and to his car. He got out and held the door open for me, "Hey." I smiled, getting in.

"Hey yourself." He shut the door, walking to his side and getting in. "Your mom is cute." He laughed, starting the car and as we pulled out I could see my mom in the window, waving frantically with a huge grin on her face.

"Ignore her, I do." I nodded, shaking my head.

"My mom is about a thousand times worse, she would be at the window with a camera in hand if a pretty girl was picking me up." He said and I blushed, of course.

"She might have one when we come back, standing next to my dad who will be holding a shotgun." I sighed, "I can't wait until college when they won't be there, hopefully."

"Have you decided where you want to go yet?"

"Somewhere warm, definitely." I nodded, I couldn't stand the cold anymore. Eighteen years of rain is enough.

"Me too, I was thinking California, UCLA maybe." He said and I suddenly had the urge to run out and apply.

"Good choice." I smiled.

"Alice and Jasper are applying there, you should too."

"I'll think about it." I nodded, smiling at him. "So where exactly are we going?"

"Dinner, unless you already ate and in that case you can watch me eat." He smirked.

"For that I am making you pay for my meal." I smirked right back.

"I was planning on it anyways." He let out a laugh, running a hand through his hair.

"Edward Cullen are you taking me out on a date?" I joked.

"Yes." He said and I gulped.


	13. Sorry

I'm sorry to write this but I have to stop writing on fanfic, someone close to me died and I can't do this anymore. I wanted to post this because I feel bad leaving my stories unfinished, but I have to.

Sorry again. :(


	14. story update!

Long time, no update ):

Thank you everyone who has read the story, you continually review and favorite it, which amazes me.

I was trying to sleep the other night and kept thinking about this story, it was pissing me off, because I was really tired. I started getting all of these ideas, now I can't stop writing them down.

A lot of people wanted me to continue with the story I had going, but there is a lot that I don't like about it. That's why I'm rewriting it, which yes, I know I did that with Double Take, but I wanted to do it with Forever, Always Changing. I really loved this story at one point, so I want to take it on again, this time with a fresh start.

The plot is a pretty much the same, minus the whole rape thing, I couldn't write about it. I have no personal experience with that, hopefully never will, so I was lacking connection. This story will still have heavy subjects, lots of angst. I want to keep the characters somewhat the same, especially Edward.

The story should be up soon, if not now, it's called **Truth in Love**. Check it out, pretty please?


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